Where to build, and why it matters.
Every year, business owners make the same decision with too little information: where to base a company, and often where to live. Most of the advice they get comes from someone selling one answer. A formation agent in one country will rarely tell you that another country suits you better.
The Global Business Index exists to fix that. We compare 25 jurisdictions on seven things that matter to an owner: tax, speed of set-up, simplicity, confidentiality, residence, lifestyle and connectivity. Each is scored from one to five against published sources, and the method is set out below.
The index covers 25 jurisdictions chosen for their relevance to owners who work across borders, including the markets where Cosmos sets up and runs companies. Each score comes from the published method; where the editor believes the data misses something, a disclosed adjustment of at most 5 points is shown, with its reason, on the country page. Partners and featured businesses appear on the site and in the dossiers, clearly marked. They pay for space, never for a score or for what we write.
We check every figure at least once a year, and sooner when a law changes. If something has changed since we checked, we would like to hear about it.
Seven pillars, with where you live weighted most
Each pillar is scored from 1 to 5. Lifestyle and Connectivity count one and a half times each, because an owner who moves a company often moves a family too; together they make up about 37% of the score. The index score expresses the weighted total out of 100, so a country scoring 5 on every pillar would score 100. The ranking is the same for everyone; the matcher then gives more importance to the pillars that matter most for one person's answers.
- Tax
- The average of two ratings: the headline corporate tax rate a company pays (0% rates 5, up to 10% rates 4, up to 15% rates 3, up to 20% rates 2, above 20% rates 1) and the top personal income tax rate its owner pays (0% rates 5, up to 20% rates 4, up to 30% rates 3, up to 40% rates 2, above 40% rates 1). Reliefs and free zone rates are explained on each country page but never used for the headline score.
- Speed of set-up
- How long the official registry says it takes to form a standard company: two days or less rates 5, a week 4, two weeks 3, a month 2, and longer 1.
- Simplicity
- How much local presence the company needs, counted in points for requirements such as a resident director, a local secretary, an audit or an office lease. One point or fewer rates 5; eight or more rates 1.
- Confidentiality
- Who can see the register of the people who own and control a company: authorities only rates 5, a fully public register rates 1.
- Residence
- How readily an owner and their family can live there through the company or an investment, from a clear route on the trade licence (5) to no practical route (1).
- Lifestyle
- The average of three measures: the intentional homicide rate, the World Bank price level, and city scale, meaning the number of people living within about 50 km of the main city, which stands for the depth of schools, healthcare, culture and services a family can draw on. At least two must be sourced. Counts one and a half times.
- Connectivity
- Nonstop scheduled destinations from the busiest airport within 100 km: 150 or more rates 5, 75 rates 4, 30 rates 3, 10 rates 2, fewer rates 1. Counts one and a half times.
Sources
Official registries, tax authorities, statistics offices and regulators come first. Where no official figure exists we say so, and name the next best source.
Equal scores
Countries with the same score share a rank, shown as =6, and are listed alphabetically.
Provisional scores
Where a pillar cannot yet be confirmed from a source, it is held at 3 out of 5 and the country is marked Provisional until it is.
The editor’s view
Data cannot capture everything. The editor may add or take away up to 5 points where credit is due, and the adjustment and its reason are shown on the country page. It is never given for payment.
Partners buy space, never a score
- Scores come from the published method, plus a disclosed editor’s adjustment of at most 5 points either way, with its reason.
- Partners do not see scores or rankings before they are published.
- Every paid placement is labelled, and paid listings never appear in the ranking or the matcher results.
- No government, free zone or investment agency can pay for placement.