Post-Brexit: UK named best European country to start a business
The UK has been named as the best country in Europe to start a business, according to new research shared with City PM this morning.
Thanks to the UK’s large economy, low unemployment rate, and ease to start and run a business here, the UK ranks number one.
The UK also topped the list of countries with the lowest cost of starting a business.
The study, carried out by e-money platform Tide, looked at national performance indicators for 28 European countries, including GDP, unemployment rate and the practicalities of starting a company to reveal the best European countries to start a business.
Top 10 European countries to start a business
| Rank | Country | Jobless rate | Days to set up biz | New biz density | Ease of doing biz (/100) | Gender pay gap (%) | |
| 1 | UK | 3.85% | 5 | 15.6 | 84 | 17.3 | |
| 2 | Ireland | 4.93% | 11 | 7.1 | 80 | 11.3 | |
| 3 | Holland | 3.20% | 4 | 6.4 | 76 | 14.6 | |
| 4 | Denmark | 4.91% | 4 | 10 | 85 | 14 | |
| 5 | Estonia | 5.11% | 4 | 23.6 | 81 | 21.7 | |
| 6 | Sweden | 6.48% | 8 | 7.2 | 82 | 11.8 | |
| 7 | France | 8.43% | 4 | 4.8 | 77 | 16.5 | |
| 8 | Slovenia | 4.20% | 8 | 3.1 | 77 | 7.9 | |
| 9 | Lithuania | 6.35% | 6 | 3.3 | 82 | 13.3 | |
| 10 | Romania | 3.98% | 20 | 7.3 | 73 | 3.3 |
The UK may be the best place to start a business, but the bad weather, British culture, political climate and a myriad of other factors may push future business owners to consider opening shop in other countries.
Ireland
Ireland is the top contender for UK business owners wishing to start up abroad. Pairing its strong economy with reasonable tax rates and ease of starting and running a business, Ireland ranked second overall in the study.
Moving further afield, the Netherlands follows in third place thanks to a combination of simplicity of starting a company and very low unemployment rate, followed closely by Denmark and Estonia.
Meanwhile, Luxembourg has the narrowest gender pay gap out of all of the countries the study looked at, and the Czech Republic has the lowest unemployment rate.
Germany is the leader in the GDP category, which means they have a bigger economy with more activity. This could make a great place to run your business, as it may provide a larger potential market for your business.