Romania received a hammering in the World Economic Forum's 2011/2012 competitiveness report – sliding ten places to 77th out of 142 countries assessed and apart from Greece, the lowest in the EU. Romania's performance in the different areas tested varied greatly. For trade tariffs Romania was right up near the top in 4th place and the country reached 15th place for redundancy costs. Top 50 places were scored by GDP and foreign market size – 47th and 46th position. In many other areas Romania's ranking was below 100th place. Switzerland maintained its top spot and the world's richest nations shuffled places slightly in the top 15.

The Doing Business 2012 rankings, an annual rating of the relative ease of doing business in 183 countries around the world, puts Romania in 72nd place, representing a seven place fall on the previous year. This puts Romania behind all other EU countries, except for Italy and Greece. When compared to other CEE states in the EU, Romania is behind, but not by a lot – Bulgaria is 59th, Poland 62nd and the Czech Republic is in 64th place.

But a closer look at the ratings in individual topic ratings reveals some enormous discrepancies in the challenges faced in the Romanian business environment. Romania's rating for starting a business plummeted 32 places, from 31st to 63rd spot. Another big fall appears for trading across borders, where Romania slipped 22 places to 72nd in the world. Resolving insolvency, however, apparently became easier, with a 12 place gain. Some areas performed very well, Romania is unchanged in 8th place for getting credit. At the other end of the spectrum, for dealing with construction permits, paying taxes and getting electricity Romania ranks 123rd, 154th and 165th respectively.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com