#2 Australia

Procedures necessary to start a business - 2

Days required to start business – 2

Entrepreneurs can enjoy the quick process of starting their businesses in two days for just over $400 in Australia. Of those residents surveyed by the OECD, 48% perceive Australia as being a good place for business opportunities, the fifth highest out of 27 OECD nations surveyed. Australian business owners have a total tax rate of 47.7% — five percentage points higher than the average OECD tax rate, which may deter potential business owners.

Ranked third in the Index of Economic Freedom (2010), Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy and has the fifth highest per capita GDP (nominal) at $66,984. The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2011 Human Development Index and first in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index. All of Australia's major cities fare well in global comparative livability surveys; Melbourne reached first place on The Economist's 2011 and 2012 world's most livable cities lists, followed by Sydney, Perth, and Adelaide in sixth, eighth, and ninth place respectively.

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