9 Best Countries To Start a Business in 2025

Even in the online world of ecommerce, location remains a critical factor when launching your new venture. Being in the right country can not only make it easier and cheaper to get started, but it can also foster long-term success and business growth potential. 

Finding the best environment for a foreign investment means weighing several key factors—and it’s about more than just cutting costs. For one, the regulatory environment determines your business’s legal structure and tax obligations. It can also affect your target market, talent pool, and employee satisfaction.

With nearly 200 countries in the world to choose from, picking your next business address is no easy feat. To narrow the playing field, here are nine countries that are particularly friendly to new small businesses.

What makes a country good for starting a business? 

• Startup costs and processes
• Tax rates
• Ease of doing business
• Access to capital
• Market opportunities
• Skilled workforce

Determining where to start a business goes beyond personal preferences. Economic, legal, and cultural factors contribute to a country’s business environment. Here’s what to consider:

Startup costs and processes

The easier and cheaper it is to register your business, the more resources you can invest in growth and operations. Your regulatory environment determines how quickly you can launch and how much red tape you’ll face moving forward.

Countries with simple online registration processes allow you to sidestep the traditional bureaucratic hurdles. These digital platforms often link with other government systems, making it easier to file taxes or apply for permits using pre-stored information.

Tax rates

Corporate income tax rates (CIT) are the taxes levied on a business’s profits. They are seen as an easily quantifiable indicator of a country’s business climate; the lower the taxes, the more profits you and other businesses in that location have to reinvest in operations and expansion. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. In Denmark, for example, a relatively high corporate tax rate is often offset by various tax incentives designed to attract startups. In some cases, the government reinvests corporate taxes into programs that benefit your business, like infrastructure development. 

Ease of doing business

The term “ease of doing business”—often associated with a now-discontinued global index released by the World Bank Group—encompasses the crucial day-to-day and long-term business maintenance considerations a fledgling company faces, including:

• Infrastructure. Reliable digital (e.g., internet and broadband) and physical infrastructure (e.g., office space, roads, airports) are essential for efficient and consistent operations.

• Intellectual property protection. Countries like Singapore, Switzerland, and the US, which vigorously protect intellectual property rights, help safeguard innovations and maintain competitiveness.

• Governmental stability and transparency. Political instability or corruption can leave your company scrambling to adapt when markets and regulatory conditions fluctuate unpredictably.

• Cultural differences. Language barriers, communication styles, business etiquette, and consumer preferences in unfamiliar markets might become business hurdles.

Access to capital

Venture capital (VC)—a type of funding provided to privately held businesses by investors in exchange for partial ownership of the company—is one of the most powerful drivers of growth. Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and India, with their large and emerging economies, tend to have more robust VC opportunities than others. You should also consider the availability of government grants that incentivize specific industries, or bank loans with favorable interest rates that support early -stage financing.

Market opportunities

Since your home base will likely be your primary market, the ideal location offers economic and political stability along with a sizable population with strong purchasing power. A country’s GDP, or gross domestic product, per capita, is a measurement of a country’s economic output per person. A comparatively high GDP per capita can be a good indicator of a country’s standard of living and economic strength.

Trade agreements, tariffs, sanctions, and embargoes also affect a country’s business landscape. For example, launching in a European country grants you market access to the European Union and preferential trade with more than 70 other countries through more than 40 trade agreements. 

Skilled workforce

To maximize productivity and output quality, you need access to a trained labor pool. Ecommerce businesses, in particular, depend on tech talent to stay up to date on rapidly evolving developments like AI. Countries like Singapore and Estonia, for instance, have various tech-related education government initiatives designed to grow their IT and communications workforces.

A high quality of life can also attract a skilled workforce. In a competitive market, desirable employees are swayed by strong labor laws, access to good healthcare and education systems, safe cities, and a healthy work-life balance. Strong local labor laws can attract skilled workers; however, they also drive up business costs through higher wages, expensive training programs, and health and safety regulations. Keep in mind that a higher quality of life often correlates with a higher cost of living, which can increase business costs, including wages and operational costs. 

Best countries to start a business

• Canada
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Lithuania
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• Switzerland
• United Arab Emirates
• United States

While strong, stable economic and political conditions are essential when choosing where to start your business, various countries offer additional advantages that make them especially appealing places to start a business. Here are nine jurisdictions that stand out:

Canada

• GDP per capita: $53,000

• CIT: 15%

• Business-friendly bonuses: Easy online business registration, low tax rates, early stage business incentives, a highly skilled workforce, and pro-immigration policies.

Canada offers a low 15% tax rate, with incentive programs that can further lower the corporate tax burden. Its accelerated investment incentive, for example, lets companies write off the full cost of manufacturing and processing equipment.

Pro-immigration policies—such as short-term work permit exemptions and fast processing for highly skilled workers—make it easy to attract global talent. 

Denmark

• GDP per capita: $68,000

• CIT: 22%

• Business-friendly bonuses: Quick and easy online registration system, advanced social services and education systems, high quality of life, strong venture capital, incubator networks, and is part of the EU market.

Denmark’s business-friendly environment includes reduced taxation for expats and exemption on income earned through international branches, eliminating the risk of double taxation.

What truly sets Denmark apart is its highly skilled and motivated workforce: Nordic countries rank high on global happiness and quality-of-life indices, partly due to their strong social services and beautiful landscapes. Denmark also offers free higher education to all its citizens and is investing heavily in STEM fields to build a resilient economy and talent base.

Estonia

• GDP per capita: $30,000

• CIT: 22%

• Business-friendly bonuses: Digital-first environment, e-residency program, access to European markets, grants, and angel investor community.

Since the 1990s, Estonia—often dubbed e-Estonia—has positioned itself as the most digitally advanced country in the world. For business owners, its standout offering is the innovative, unique e-residency program that lets you “start, run, and grow an EU company” entirely online. In other words, you don’t have to live in Estonia to start your company there and get market access to the European Union. 

Estonia also boasts technological advancements, including a digitized, streamlined bureaucratic system, as well as a flat 22% corporate tax on distributed profits, or the portion of a company’s profits that are paid out to shareholders. 

Lithuania

• GDP per capita: $28,000

• CIT: 16%

• Business-friendly bonuses: One of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe, quick and easy business registration, a strong financial sector, and advanced digital infrastructure.

Since the early 2000s, Lithuania has launched a range of government initiatives to position itself as a prime destination for new businesses. Today, this small country of just under three million is the European Union’s leading hub for financial technology (fintech). Yet, companies across all sectors can benefit from Lithuania’s low corporate taxes—the lowest in the EU—free economic zones, and advanced digital infrastructure, including some of the fastest Wi-Fi speeds in the region. 

Businesses in Lithuania can enjoy access to Baltic and Central European markets, as well as the broader EU Single Market. 

New Zealand

• GDP per capita: $48,000

• CIT: 28%

• Business-friendly bonuses: Efficient business registration process, transparent legal system, economic and political stability, and high quality of life.

New Zealand consistently ranks high in global well-being, when taking into account income levels, social services (like education and health care), environmental quality, and life satisfaction—all of which contribute to a happy, motivated workforce.

New Zealand has a stable economy, a transparent legal system, and low levels of corruption, and its easy online registration system makes starting a company simple. Although it’s geographically remote, the country has good access to markets in Southeast Asia and long, dependable economic ties with the United States, the United Kingdom, and European countries. 

Singapore

• GDP per capita: $85,000

• CIT: 17% 

• Business-friendly bonuses: Stable government, booming digital economy, network of trade agreements, small business tax exemptions, educated tech-forward workforce, and strong IP protections.

Singapore consistently tops annual lists of best countries for business from the likes of Forbes and the World Bank, thanks to its pro-business policies and digital-first infrastructure. Its streamlined online registration system and flat 17% corporate tax reduce bureaucratic friction, while tax exemptions, such as on the first 200,000 Singapore dollars of income for startups and smaller businesses, ease the financial burden.

The country is also investing in creating a strong tech workforce with initiatives like the TechSkills accelerator, which provides professional training for in-demand tech skills, and the Employment Pass and EntrePass schemes, which facilitate work permits for professional foreign workers. For companies interested in international expansion, Singapore is strategically located as a gateway into mainland Asia and Southeast Asia.

Switzerland

• GDP per capita: $100,000

• CIT: Between 12% and 20.5%, depending on the canton (region).

• Business-friendly bonuses: Strong IP protections, high-value industries, government incentives for research and development, strong economy, and a longstanding investment community.

Switzerland has a strong economy and a long-standing tradition of political stability and neutrality. Its high purchasing power and proximity to other major European markets make it especially attractive for ecommerce businesses. Although it’s not part of the European Union, it maintains trade agreements with more than 40 countries inside and outside the EU.

Note that Switzerland’s corporate tax system varies from canton to canton, making it slightly more complex to navigate than other countries on this list.

United Arab Emirates

• GDP per capita: $49,000

• CIT: 0% for taxable income up to AED 375,000, 9% for taxable income over AED 375,000 

• Business-friendly bonuses: Low corporate taxes, free zones that allow 100% foreign ownership, strategic geographic position, and tech, logistics, and finance hubs.

The UAE combines low corporate taxes for most sectors (except oil and gas, which are taxed through a more complex system) with advanced transportation networks and digital infrastructure across the country. It features more than 40 “free zones,” where foreign investors can retain full ownership of companies and benefit from exemptions on corporate and income taxes.

While the broader region can be politically volatile, the UAE itself maintains a stable government and economy, and its location in the Middle East offers strong access to both European and Asian markets. 

United States

• GDP per capita: $83,000

• CIT: 21%

• Business-friendly bonuses: Huge market and strong purchasing power, easy online business registration and reporting, world leader in venture capital investments, and advanced infrastructure geared toward ecommerce.

With a population of 340 million, the US has one of the largest consumer markets in the world, making it easy for nearly any new business to find an audience and scale. The federal corporate income tax is a flat 21%, though some states levy additional taxes.

New businesses benefit from strong access to capital; the US led the world in venture capital investment in 2024, with nearly $200 billion deployed. For ecommerce businesses, established logistics and transportation infrastructure can provide a solid foundation for growth.