In the survey, businesses were probed in the following areas — starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

Estonia's business environment ranked the lowest in protecting minority investors, where it placed 83rd among the 190 states included in the report. Estonia placed 46th, 47th, and 44th, respectively, when it came to getting electricity, resolving insolvency and getting credit.

The highest ranking Estonia received was 6th place regarding registering property. It placed 15th, meanwhile, in ease of starting a business, 14th in receiving a construction permit and paying taxes, and 13th in enforcing contracts.

New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark topped the rankings in ease of doing business. Of European states, Estonia was also bested by Lithuania, which overtook Estonia in rising two spots to 14th, Norway, the UK, Macedonia and Sweden.

Estonia's other Baltic neighbour, Latvia, placed 19th overall.

Doing Business 2019 is the 16th in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity as well as those that constrain it. The report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations, costs, requirements and time spent on procedures that can be compared across 190 countries. States included in the survey are studied first and foremost from the perspective of small-scale enterprises.

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