In international locations resembling Denmark (together with the West Zealand area pictured), issues don’t appear to be as complicated.
Photograph by Christoffer Sandage courtesy of Vacation spot Sjælland
‘Sink or Swim’ Report Ranks International locations on Complexity
UK-based TMF Group yesterday launched the most recent version of its International Enterprise Complexity Index (GBCI), which research the layers of paperwork that may kind “a dead-weight burden on enterprise that stifles native innovation and deters overseas direct funding with no apparent societal profit.”
Titled “Sink or Swim: Charting successful business growth in an increasingly uncertain world,” the GBCI tracks 292 indicators that have an effect on three core areas of enterprise administration: accounting and tax; international entity administration; and HR and payroll. Replete with in-depth evaluation of such components as commerce coverage, distant work, authorities infrastructure, regional integration, commerce hub standing and expertise attraction, the 55-page report options country-specific feedback from unnamed TMF consultants around the globe. It additionally ranks 79 jurisdictions, international locations that characterize 94% of world GDP and 95% of web FDI influx. Along with the report itself, TMF Group will convene a webinar about its findings on Tuesday, June 3, and can host a presentation and reception across the report’s launch in New York City the evening of June 5.
“Native complexity is dear, each to exterior buyers and to the various home companies striving to develop,” writes TMF Group CEO Mark Weil within the report’s foreword. “Unsurprisingly, due to this fact, extra complicated international locations are additionally decrease prosperity by way of GDP per capita. That is likely to be a value value paying had been their administrative necessities conferring some social, environmental or different profit. Nevertheless, in our measure of complexity, we’re primarily coping with paperwork that could be a lifeless weight price on these international locations’ economies. For instance, Denmark, one of many best locations to do enterprise, doesn’t look to be sacrificing a lot in such protections when in comparison with Brazil, one of the vital complicated international locations to do enterprise in.”
Distant and hybrid work preparations look like right here to remain. “If you happen to actually need to appeal to expertise in main cities like Bogotá or Medellín or Barranquilla, you might want to have a hybrid or distant mannequin, easy as that,” says a TMF Group knowledgeable in Colombia. “If you happen to inform folks to come back to the workplace, they are going to reject any supply, it doesn’t matter what you’re paying.”
The report has persistently proven that international locations in Southern Europe and Latin America are probably the most complicated for doing enterprise and that continues to be true in 2025. “On the different finish of the dimensions, the least complicated locations to do enterprise are usually in Northern Europe and several other of the offshore funding hubs,” the report explains. “These all compete for funding on the idea of the convenience of doing enterprise there and have adopted much less onerous necessities, in addition to extra environment friendly methods for corporations to handle them.”
Listed here are the ten most complicated international locations and the ten least complicated, alongside the international locations’ rankings over the previous three years:
10 Most Advanced International locations
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| 1 | Greece | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | France | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Mexico | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Turkey | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 5 | Colombia | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Brazil | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | Italy | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | Bolivia | 5 | 9 | 9 |
| 9 | Kazakhstan | 10 | 23 | 24 |
| 10 | China’s Mainland | 11 | 15 | 14 |
10 Least Advanced International locations
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| 70 | Czech Republic | 69 | 65 | 63 |
| 71 | Curaçao | 78 | 76 | 76 |
| 72 | British Virgin Islands | 71 | 73 | 73 |
| 73 | Jamaica | 70 | 49 | 59 |
| 74 | The Netherlands | 74 | 75 | 56 |
| 75 | Jersey | 72 | 70 | 72 |
| 76 | Hong Kong, SAR | 76 | 74 | 74 |
| 77 | New Zealand | 75 | 71 | 70 |
| 78 | Denmark | 77 | 77 | 75 |
| 79 | The Cayman Islands | 79 | 78 | 77 |
The report notes that complexity is comparatively simple to navigate, not less than for bigger multinationals in a position to take up the price of complying with native guidelines. “What is far more durable to take care of is uncertainty.” Even the vaunted China plus one technique shouldn’t be resistant to punishing U.S. tariffs which can be already affecting international locations with what the report calls “connector standing” resembling Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam.
“The actual problem for companies right this moment isn’t complexity, it’s uncertainty … Tariffs are simply the most recent sign of the dangers of provide chain focus. Diversification is a necessity on this context, though it comes with a value. The excellent news is that companies can offset a number of the complexities of diversification by decreasing their very own inside intricacies.”
— TMF Group CEO Mark Weil
“Even when tariffs abate, their launch and speedy shifts level to an underlying danger for corporations buying and selling from international locations with a excessive U.S. commerce surplus,” the GBCI states. However some international locations might now emerge as new connectors due to their low complexity, low U.S. commerce surpluses, enough dimension and multipolar stance with regard to buying and selling with completely different blocs. “These international locations embrace the UK [No. 68 in complexity] and the Netherlands [No. 74] in Europe, Egypt [No 37] and Saudi Arabia [No. 38] within the Center East and Australia [No. 47] and Hong Kong [No. 76] in Asia Pacific,” the report finds. Web site Choice’s newest Global Best to Invest index this month discovered the UK atop the rankings.
How do different main economies fare within the GBCI rankings? At No. 64, america has crept upward in complexity from No. 71 a number of years in the past. Eire (No. 61) and Costa Rica (No. 58) are among the many international locations which have steadily lowered their enterprise complexity, mirrored within the healthy FDI those countries are experiencing. (Eire was Web site Choice’s No. 1 International Finest to Make investments location on a per capita foundation). Germany has moved from the twentieth most complicated nation to No. 34 since 2022, whereas India has moved in the other way from No. 33 the previous two years to No. 18 within the new examine. At No. 48, Site Selection Global Best to Invest city-state Singapore has seen its complexity improve over the previous few years, however finds itself within the healthiest kind of steadiness.
“It’s enticing to arrange holding corporations and headquarters right here,” says TMF’s Singapore knowledgeable within the report, noting that many investments in Asia move by means of Singapore. “By way of its location, it’s strategic and there was a give attention to growing the port and utilizing know-how to reinforce the infrastructure.”
In the meantime, corporations can profit from scrutinize their very own infrastructure, the report recommends. At the same time as they’re pushed to additional diversify their provide chains, they’ll additionally study and simplify how they handle these provide chains by, for instance, decreasing their variety of authorized entities and suppliers.
“Our benchmarking reveals stark variations in structural complexity amongst comparable corporations,” Weil acknowledged in a TMF press launch. “We see a chance right here: by simplifying their buildings and help fashions — for instance, by having fewer authorized entities and some trusted international companions — companies can acquire flexibility. Carried out proper, this will enhance effectivity and agility as corporations navigate an unsure world.” — Adam Bruns
