The Netherlands ranked world’s second Best Place for Business

The Netherlands is the world’s second best place to do business, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Netherlands ran second, reflecting the appeal of an economy with five major ports and easy access to mainland Europe. Companies based there include Royal Philips Electronics NV, the largest light-bulb maker, and ASML NV (ASML), which has an 80 percent market share in the semiconductor equipment market.

Bloomberg Rankings measured 160 markets on a scale of zero to 100 percent based on six factors. These are the costs of setting up business, hiring and moving goods; the degree of economic integration; less tangible costs such as inflation and corruption; and the readiness of the local consumer base, a category that includes the size of the middle class, household consumption and gross domestic product per person.

Hong Kong Beats the Netherlands as Best Place for Business. The gateway to the world’s most populous nation secured top position in a new index based on six criteria including the degree of economic integration and labor costs. The U.S., the U.K. and Australia occupied the next three leading slots.

Brazil came bottom of the top 50 with 35.5 percent, undershooting India at 35.9 percent and Russia at 36.1 percent.