United States Rated 10th Best in the World for Growing Businesses

Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index ranks countries based on 22 indicators

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The United States is the 10^th best country in the world for dynamic growing businesses according to the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index. The United States sits ahead of France, China and Japan, and trails South Korea and Germany by a narrow margin and is ranked eighth in the area of financing environment.

“In comparison, U.S. business growth fundamentals are solid,” said Stephen Chipman, chief executive officer of Grant Thornton LLP. “A strong and stable legal system, access to capital, credit and a highly skilled diverse workforce are all key drivers of business location decisions.”

More than 400 senior executives from a broad range of countries and industries were then interviewed to determine which aspects of these attributes they deemed most important for business growth. This allowed for the weighting of each aspect according to its perceived relevance.

“The ratings go well beyond basic GDP data,” added Chipman. “Rather than provide a measure of an economy’s success during a period of high economic turbulence, this iteration provides a true illustration of the strength of each economy as a place for dynamic businesses to flourish.”

Overall Rankings

1. Singapore 72.1
2. Finland 70.5
3. Sweden 69.6
4. Israel 69.3
5. Austria 66.1

6. Australia 65.6

7. Switzerland 65.1

8. South Korea 64.9

9. Germany 64.8

10. United States 64.1

(link to complete list of 50 countries: www.globaldynamismindex.com)

A. Business operating environment

(Foreign trade and exchange regimes and controls; policy towards private enterprise and competition; political stability; and legal and regulatory risk)

1. Finland 94.2
2. Ireland 93.4
3. Sweden 92.8
4. Netherlands 91.5
5. Denmark 91.4

6. Canada 91.2

7. Australia 90.7

7. Luxembourg 90.7

9. New Zealand 90.4

10. Austria 90.1

B. Science and technology

(Broadband subscriber lines per 100 inhabitants; growth in broadband subscriber lines; R&D as % of GDP; total IT spending growth)

1. Israel 73.0
2. Finland 65.8
3. Sweden 64.9
4. South Korea 61.0
5. Switzerland 59.0

6. Japan 58.8

7. Denmark 56.4

8. Taiwan 53.9

9. Germany 53.5

10. UAE 53.2

C. Labor and human capital

(Labor productivity growth; unemployment; school life expectancy; % of population under 30.)

1. Argentina 72.5
2. Slovak Republic 72.4
3. Uruguay 69.0
4. China 67.4
5. New Zealand 65.6

6. South Korea 64.1

7. Australia 63.9

8. Norway 62.4

9. Indonesia 62.1

10. Taiwan 61.6

D. Financing environment

(Quality of overall financial regulatory system; access of firms to medium-term capital; growth in value of inward M&A deals; value of inward M&A deals; private sector credit as % of GDP; inward direct investment growth; corporate tax burden.)

1. Singapore 82.2
2. Finland 72.3
3. France 71.8
4. Austria 71.4
4. Chile 71.4

6. Poland 70.4

7. New Zealand 69.8

8. United States 69.5

9. Israel 68.3

10. Slovenia 67.6

 

E. Economics and growth

(Real GDP growth; private consumption per head; change in $ value of stock market index.)

1. Argentina 95.6
2. China 94.6
3. Uruguay 82.3
4. Chile 80.6
5. India 80.0

6. Indonesia 79.8

7. Nigeria 79.4

8. Turkey 78.0

9. Singapore 75.3

10. Colombia 73.8

10. Russia 73.8

 

Notes to editors

To find out more about the GDI, go to www.gti.org/thinking or to access the results directly go to www.globaldynamismindex.com.

Indicators

Categories and indicators were selected on the basis of expert analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Indicators are drawn from a variety of sources, including: the EIU, the World Bank, Thomson Financial and UNESCO.

About the Survey

The survey of 406 senior executives was conducted by the Thought Leadership team at the EIU. All respondents held C-Suite, board roles or other senior decision making roles in a wide variety of sectors and geographical regions. Around half were drawn from businesses with global annual revenues exceeding $500m. Survey respondents were asked to assign an importance to each of the indicators for their company.

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