Canada Ranked No. 1 For Business

By: EW News Desk Team   Date: 5 October 2011

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EW News Desk Team

Always on the look out for the latest news to monitor the state of the world economy.

EconomyWatch, News Desk Team

 

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05 October 2011

 Canada is the world’s best place to do business, knocking off the favorites of Singapore and Norway, according to Forbes magazine in its annual ranking of global economies.

On Tuesday, Forbes ranked Canada as the best country for business, moving up from fourth spot – and knocking off Denmark, helped by a lower overall tax burden.

Forbes noted that Canada ranked ninth among the 134 countries reviewed for tax burden compared with 23rd in the category for 2010.

”While the United States is paralyzed by fears of a double dip recession and Europe struggles with sovereign debt issues, Canada’s economy has held up better than most,” said the influential United States business magazine.

The $1.6 trillion economy is the ninth largest in the world and grew 3.1 percent last year. According to the Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s economy is expected to expand by 2.4 percent in 2011.

Find more Canada economic statistics from our Econ Stats database.

Canada skirted the banking meltdown that plagued the U.S. and Europe. Banks like the Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal managed to avoid bailouts and were profitable during the financial crises that started in 2007.

”During the run up to every U.S. presidential election, countless Americans threaten to move to Canada if their preferred candidate does not emerge victorious. Of course, few follow through with a move north. Maybe it’s time to reconsider … … Canada’s major banks, however emerged from the financial crisis of 2009/09 among the strongest in the world, owing to the financial sector’s tradition of conservative lending practices and strong capitalization,” read the Forbes report.

Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with the U.S., which absorbs about three-quarters of Canadian exports each year. This year, the unemployment rate for Canada is 7.3 percent, which compares favorably with the U.S. rate of 9 percent and the eurozone’s unemployment rate of 10 percent.

The other countries in the top 10 include New Zealand, Hong Kong, Ireland, Denmark, Singapore, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. at 10th spot. 

 

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