Time required to start a business in Ghana

Ghana: Time required to start a business was 13 days in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
13 days
Change on year
down 7.1%
World rank
83rd
of 188 countries
All-time high
21 days
in 2003
All-time low
11 days
in 2008
Years of data
17
2003–2019

Time required to start a business in Ghana, 2003–2019

051015202003201120192003: 21 days2004: 21 days2005: 17 days2006: 17 days2007: 13 days2008: 11 days2009: 11 days2010: 11 days2011: 11 days2012: 11 days2013: 14 days2014: 14 days2015: 14 days2016: 14 days2017: 14 days2018: 14 days2019: 13 days

Source: Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in days.

Analysis

Ghana recorded 13 days for time required to start a business in 2019.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 7.1% on the previous year and up 18.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, time required to start a business in Ghana peaked at 21 days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 11 days, in 2008.

Ghana ranks 83rd of 188 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 15.86 days 11 days 21 days 7
2010s 13 days 11 days 14 days 10

Countries ranked near Ghana

  1. 80 Djibouti 14 days compare
  2. 80 Nicaragua 14 days compare
  3. 82 Cameroon 13.5 days compare
  4. 83 Burkina Faso 13 days compare
  5. 83 East Timor 13 days compare
  6. 83 Finland 13 days compare
  7. 83 South Sudan 13 days compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for Ghana

All data for Ghana →

Frequently asked questions

What is time required to start a business in Ghana?
Time required to start a business in Ghana was 13 days in 2019, according to Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest time required to start a business recorded in Ghana?
The highest recorded value was 21 days in 2003.
What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in Ghana?
The lowest recorded value was 11 days in 2008.
How does Ghana rank for time required to start a business?
Ghana ranks 83rd out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
Is time required to start a business rising or falling in Ghana?
Over the last ten years it is up 18.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Ghana data come from?
The figures come from Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Time required to start a business. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Time required to start a business
Unit
days
Source
Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
188 places, 2,945 data points, 2003–2019
Last refreshed

Number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business.