Ranking
Best Countries for Startups
Composite ranking for early-stage technology startups, weighing formation speed, tax competitiveness, payment infrastructure, banking access, EU/EEA market reach, and compliance simplicity.
Ranking
| Rank | Country | Score | Corporate tax | VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Estonia | 81.2 | 22% | 22% |
| #2 | Singapore | 73.2 | 17% | 9% |
| #3 | Portugal | 72.4 | 19% | 23% |
| #4 | United Kingdom | 70.0 | 25% | 20% |
| #5 | Poland | 62.4 | 19% | 23% |
| #6 | Netherlands | 62.2 | 25.8% | 21% |
| #7 | Czech Republic | 60.4 | 21% | 21% |
| #8 | France | 60.0 | 25% | 20% |
| #9 | Canada | 55.6 | 26.5% | 5% |
| #10 | United Arab Emirates | 55.2 | 9% | 5% |
| #11 | Spain | 55.0 | 25% | 21% |
| #12 | United States | 51.6 | 21% | 0% |
| #13 | Germany | 50.5 | 30% | 19% |
How we calculate this ranking
Composite score for early-stage technology startups: formation speed, tax competitiveness, payment infrastructure, banking access, EU/EEA market reach, and compliance simplicity.
| Factor | Weight | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Company formation simplicity | 30% | Speed-to-launch is decisive for early-stage iteration. |
| Tax competitiveness | 20% | Effective corporate tax burden on retained earnings. |
| Payments infrastructure (Stripe / PayPal / Wise) | 15% | Required for global revenue from day one. |
| Banking access | 15% | A working operating account is a prerequisite to ship. |
| Compliance simplicity | 10% | Lower ongoing overhead while pre-PMF. |
| EU / EEA market access | 10% | Single-market reach for digital products. |
Normalization: Same per-factor normalization as the founder-friendliness ranking.
Related
Other rankings
- Best Countries for AI Startups
- Best Countries for E-commerce
- Best Countries for Freelancers
- Best Countries for Online Business
- Best Countries for SaaS Founders
- Best Countries to Start a Business
- Best EU Countries for Business
- Best Low-Tax Countries
- Easiest Countries for Company Formation
- Lowest Corporate Tax Countries
Sources
- OECD — OECD — economic and tax statistics (accessed )
- European Commission — European Commission — policy and country information (accessed )
- Stripe — Stripe — supported countries (accessed )
- Wise — Wise — service availability (accessed )
- PricewaterhouseCoopers — PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (accessed )
Last updated: