6th September 2021
The research by Tide looked at national performance indicators for 28 European countries, including GDP, unemployment rate and the practicalities of starting a company to reveal the best European countries to start a business.
Thanks to the UK’s large economy, low unemployment rate, and ease to start and run a business here, the UK ranks number one. The UK also topped the list of countries with the lowest cost of starting a business.
You can view the research in full here: https://www.tide.co/blog/business-tips/best-european-country-to-start-a-business/
Top 10 European countries to start a business
|
Rank |
Country |
GDP 2019 |
Unemployment rate |
Time required to start a business (days) |
New business density |
Ease of doing business score (/100) |
Gender pay gap (%) |
|
1 |
UK |
2,827,113,184,696 |
3.85% |
5 |
15.6 |
84 |
17.3 |
|
2 |
Ireland |
388,698,711,348 |
4.93% |
11 |
7.1 |
80 |
11.3 |
|
3 |
Netherlands |
909,070,395,161 |
3.20% |
4 |
6.4 |
76 |
14.6 |
|
4 |
Denmark |
348,078,018,464 |
4.91% |
4 |
10 |
85 |
14 |
|
5 |
Estonia |
31,386,949,981 |
5.11% |
4 |
23.6 |
81 |
21.7 |
|
6 |
Sweden |
530,832,908,738 |
6.48% |
8 |
7.2 |
82 |
11.8 |
|
7 |
France |
2,715,518,274,227 |
8.43% |
4 |
4.8 |
77 |
16.5 |
|
8 |
Slovenia |
53,742,159,517 |
4.20% |
8 |
3.1 |
77 |
7.9 |
|
9 |
Lithuania |
54,219,315,600 |
6.35% |
6 |
3.3 |
82 |
13.3 |
|
10 |
Romania |
250,077,444,017 |
3.98% |
20 |
7.3 |
73 |
3.3 |
The UK may be the best place to start a business, but the bad weather, British culture, political climate and a myriad of other factors may push future business owners to consider opening shop in other countries.
Ireland is the top contender for UK business owners wishing to start up abroad. Pairing its strong economy with reasonable tax rates and ease of starting and running a business, Ireland ranked second overall in the study.
If you want to move further afield, the Netherlands follows in 3rd place thanks to a combination of simplicity of starting a company and very low unemployment rate. Followed closely by Denmark and Estonia.
Further insights:
· Luxembourg has the narrowest gender pay gap out of all of the countries the study looked at
· Germany is the leader in the GDP category, which means they have a bigger economy with more activity. This could make a great place to run your business, as it may provide a larger potential market for your business
- Czech Republic has the lowest unemployment rate
To view the research in full please click here.