New Zealand is second only to Singapore as the best place in the world to start or run a business. This includes being easiest for starting a business as well as top rankings for registering property, getting credit and protecting minority interests.

An article released on NBR online today details some of New Zealand's achievements of 2015.  The list details why New Zealanders are better off today than they were a year ago, with a major highlight being the fact that New Zealand is second only to Singapore as the best place in the world to start or run a business.

BEST PLACE TO DO BUSINESS

  • New Zealand is second only to Singapore as the best place in the world to start or run a business. This includes being easiest for starting a business as well as top rankings for registering property, getting credit and protecting minority interests. (World Bank's Doing Business 2015)
  • New Zealand is third behind Hong Kong and Singapore in a ranking of the world’s freest economies. (Heritage Foundation)
  • New Zealand may be only 16th for global competitiveness but this includes a top-in-the-world rating for financial market development and third for the quality of institutions, which includes property rights, ethics and lack of corruption. (World Economic Forum)
  • New Zealand rose three places in the rival 2015 World Competitiveness Index ahead of Australia. In government efficiency, one of three main criteria, New Zealand rose one place to sixth. (IMD)
  • New Zealand is fourth in the latest Enabling Trade Index, which measures market access, border administration, transport and communications infrastructure and the business environment. (World Economic Forum)

BEST PLACE TO LIVE

  • The UN’s latest Human Development Index ranks New Zealand ninth in the world for giving people the knowledge and length of healthy life to enjoy a decent standard of living.
  • New Zealand ranks fifth in the Social Progress Index, while also giving this country a first for personal rights. (Compiled by Michael Porter's Social Progress Initiative, based in Washington DC)
  • New Zealand is ninth in the World Happiness Index, compiled by the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
  • In 2013, New Zealand was ranked the seventh best place in the world to be born. That hasn’t been updated but the Global Age Watch 2015 Index of quality of life for the elderly puts New Zealand at 12th in the world. 
  • New Zealand is top in the OECD’s Better Living Index on the quality of the population’s health. New Zealand also ranks above the average in this group of the world’s 30 richest countries for environmental quality, civic engagement, personal security, housing, subjective well-being, education and skills, and jobs.
  • New Zealand is sixth in HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey of the countries expats from around the world most like to live in. New Zealand ranks top in two of the three main criteria – the expat experience and a place to raise children.
  • Auckland is ranked the sixth best city among 28 in Apec countries. The five best were Toronto, Vancouver, Singapore, Tokyo and Seattle. (PwC’s Building Better Cities 2015)

IMPROVED ECONOMY

  • The New Zealand sharemarket reached an all-time high of 6150.68 on December 1. (NZX50)
  • Lowest interest rates – the Reserve Bank reduced the official cash rate to 2.5% on December 10.
  • Lowest ACC payments – motor vehicle, work and workers’ levies will be at an historic low in the 2016/17 year.
  • Benefit rates increase for the first in 43 years – the Support for Children in Hardship Act will be effective on April 1, 2016.
  • Building consents – approved plans for residential dwelling units are the highest since July 2004.
  • New Zealand’s main international airports now handle more airlines going to more destinations around the Pacific than ever before. Overseas visitors passed three million annually in July for the first time and continue to rise.
  • The balance of trade – exported goods and services of $69 billion exceeded imports worth $66.3 billion, leaving a record surplus of $2.8 billion. (Sept year)
  • New Zealand has the world’s highest private car ownership – 68 per 100 inhabitants. (OECD's Environment at a Glance 2015) 

PLACE IN THE WORLD

  • New Zealand is fourth in the Legatum Institute’s 2015 Global Prosperity Index.
  • New Zealand rose two places to eighth in the 2015 Positive Peace Index, which measures countries’ ability to reduce violence in settling disputes.
  • New Zealand rose two places to 12th in a global index of sustainable competitiveness, which evaluates wealth creation on a sustainable basis.

EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY

  • New Zealand moved up two places to 10th in a world ranking of countries with the narrowest gender gap – the degree to which the sexes are unequal. (World Economic Forum)
  • The Economist’s 2015 Glass Ceiling Index rates New Zealand the best place in the world for working women outside of nine western European countries.