Explore 198 countries for the best places to start a business: corporate and income tax, company formation, residency and cost.
The best countries to start a business, ranked by corporate tax, how income is taxed and whether you can compare company costs, from the same data as the country finder.
Western AsiaThe countries
Caribbean
Caribbean
Western Asia
Caribbean
Caribbean
Western Europe
Melanesia
Caribbean
Western Asia
Northern America
South-eastern Asia
Western Asia
Western Asia
15Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Eastern Europe
Eastern Asia
South America
South-eastern Asia
Northern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Asia
Northern Europe
Caribbean
Northern Europe
Southern Europe
Eastern Asia
Southern Europe
Northern Europe
Southern Europe
Southern Asia
Western Asia
Western Asia
Western Asia
Eastern Europe
Western Asia
Central Asia
Central America
Central Asia
Southern Europe
South-eastern Asia
Western Asia
Northern Europe
Western Africa
Southern Europe
Eastern Africa
Northern Africa
Central Asia
South-eastern Asia
Eastern Asia
Northern Africa
Northern Africa
Central America
South America
Caribbean
Eastern Africa
Eastern Africa
Polynesia
Central America
Central America
Southern Asia
Western Europe
Southern Asia
Caribbean
Central Asia
Western Asia
Southern Africa
Eastern Europe
Caribbean
Southern Europe
Northern Europe
South America
South-eastern Asia
South-eastern Asia
Eastern Africa
Central America
Eastern Africa
Middle Africa
Central America
Eastern Africa
Central America
Southern Europe
Western Asia
Western Asia
South-eastern Asia
Melanesia
Southern Asia
Southern Asia
Southern Africa
Western Africa
Eastern Europe
Eastern Africa
Caribbean
Polynesia
Southern Europe
Western Asia
Eastern Europe
Eastern Asia
Southern Europe
Caribbean
Northern Europe
South-eastern Asia
Eastern Africa
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Africa
Central Asia
Southern Europe
Southern Asia
South-eastern Asia
Caribbean
South America
Western Africa
Western Africa
South-eastern Asia
Northern America
Northern Europe
Southern Africa
Western Africa
Western Africa
Western Africa
Western Africa
Western Africa
Southern Europe
South America
South America
Western Europe
Central America
Polynesia
Southern Europe
Northern Europe
Australia and New Zealand
Northern Europe
Southern Asia
South America
Caribbean
Southern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Africa
South America
Eastern Africa
Polynesia
Caribbean
Caribbean
Melanesia
Melanesia
Western Africa
Eastern Africa
Western Africa
Eastern Europe
Western Africa
Northern Europe
Eastern Africa
Northern Europe
Western Asia
Southern Europe
Eastern Europe
Caribbean
Northern Africa
Eastern Africa
Southern Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe
Southern Asia
Southern Asia
Western Europe
Australia and New Zealand
South America
Caribbean
South-eastern Asia
Caribbean
Middle Africa
Northern America
Eastern Asia
South America
Northern Africa
Melanesia
Southern Europe
Western Asia
Eastern Asia
South America
South America
Western Africa
Middle Africa
Western Europe
Southern Africa
Western Europe
Northern America
Western Africa
Caribbean
Western Europe
Northern Europe
South America
Middle Africa
Eastern Africa
Caribbean
Middle Africa
CaribbeanHow it sorts: each thing you pick scores every country from 0 to 1 (live for less: the World Bank's price level against the US; lower tax: no income tax or a territorial system first, then remittance, then a worldwide system by its top rate; easy residency: open nomad, freelancer, passive income or retirement visas; fast citizenship: fewer years to naturalize, less if dual citizenship isn't allowed; start a company: a low corporate tax; fast internet: M-Lab's median download, from 5 Mbps (empty) to 150 Mbps (full) on a log scale; safe: the US travel advice, with Levels 1 and 2 both counting as everyday travel; visa-free on my passport: your passport's rule for the country), and the countries sort by the average. With nothing picked, it's a balance of cost, tax, residency and safety.
Prices: the World Bank's purchasing power conversion factor over the exchange rate (WDI, CC BY 4.0). Tax: the territorial tax map's classification and each country's rates. Citizenship and residency: official immigration sources in the visa finders' tables. Safety: the US State Department's advisories, read 2026-09-29. Internet: M-Lab's open speed tests over the last 12 months. Videos and photos from Pexels, Coverr, Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons, credited on each country.
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Where should you start a business?
The best countries to start a business, ranked by corporate tax, how income is taxed and whether you can compare company costs, from the same data as the country finder.
In this guide, I'll show you:
- The top 15 countries, and why each ranks where it does
- How the ranking works
- More ways to compare countries
Open any country for its full guide, with visas for your passport, tax and costs.
TL;DRKey takeaways
Best Countries to Start a Business: the ranking
- Vanuatu – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Bahamas – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Turks and Caicos Islands – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Cayman Islands – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Bermuda – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Anguilla – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- British Virgin Islands – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Monaco – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Pitcairn Islands – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- St. Barthélemy – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Wallis and Futuna – corporate tax 0%, no personal income tax
- Georgia – corporate tax 0%, territorial tax, company costs compared in the company formation tool
- Tokelau – corporate tax 0%, territorial tax
- Brunei – corporate tax 1%, no personal income tax
- Marshall Islands – corporate tax 3%, territorial tax
How the ranking works
How it sorts: each thing you pick scores every country from 0 to 1 (live for less: the World Bank's price level against the US; lower tax: no income tax or a territorial system first, then remittance, then a worldwide system by its top rate; easy residency: open nomad, freelancer, passive income or retirement visas; fast citizenship: fewer years to naturalize, less if dual citizenship isn't allowed; start a company: a low corporate tax; fast internet: M-Lab's median download, from 5 Mbps (empty) to 150 Mbps (full) on a log scale; safe: the US travel advice, with Levels 1 and 2 both counting as everyday travel; visa-free on my passport: your passport's rule for the country), and the countries sort by the average. With nothing picked, it's a balance of cost, tax, residency and safety.
More ways to compare countries
Best countries to start a business FAQs
Questions about it? Here's what to know.
It depends on where you'll live and sell.
For an online business, a low corporate tax and a territorial or no-income-tax system matter most; the ranking above sorts by both.
Often, yes; many countries let non-residents own a company.
Banking and tax residency are the harder parts; compare them in company formation compared and the bank account finder.
I've lived in Cambodia, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.
I'm a permanent resident of Panama, my home base.
Navid Moazzez
AI business strategist & AI OS builder
Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.
Navid.me is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
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