Lithuania 15th in Forbes’ Best Countries for Business 2017 List

The prestigious business publication Forbes has ranked Lithuania 15^th globally in its annual Best Countries for Business list. The Baltic country has climbed two places since last year and now sits above the likes of Switzerland, Germany, the USA and Israel. In the last three years, Lithuania has climbed more than 10 places. The list, which is compiled annually, rates countries based on the conditions for business they offer.

Lijana Lubytė–Medekšienė, head of the analyst team at Invest Lithuania, a foreign direct investment development agency, notes that a higher ranking in the Forbes list suggests improvements are being made across a range of areas. “When evaluating countries, the compilers refer to the data of other influential ratings,” she explains. “For this reason, small steps forward in every rating have resulted in a significant jump up the Forbes list over the past few years.”

Among the economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Lithuania is ranked second. Neighbouring Latvia came in 25^th place, with Poland in 31^st and the Czech Republic 34^th. Sweden topped the list this year, with New Zealand, Hong Kong and Ireland close behind.

Forbes evaluated 11 business environment factors across 139 countries when compiling the list. These factors are property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), bureaucracy, investor protection and stock market performance.