Time required to start a business in Iraq

Iraq: Time required to start a business was 26.5 days in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
26.5 days
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
37th
of 188 countries
All-time high
34.5 days
in 2015
All-time low
26.5 days
in 2017
Years of data
16
2004–2019

Time required to start a business in Iraq, 2004–2019

01020302004201120192004: 30.5 days2005: 30.5 days2006: 29.5 days2007: 30.5 days2008: 30.5 days2009: 30.5 days2010: 30.5 days2011: 30.5 days2012: 27.5 days2013: 27.5 days2014: 27.5 days2015: 34.5 days2016: 34.5 days2017: 26.5 days2018: 26.5 days2019: 26.5 days

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

Analysis

Iraq recorded 26.5 days for time required to start a business in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 16 years on record.

That represents a change of down 13.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, time required to start a business in Iraq peaked at 34.5 days in 2015 and was at its lowest, 26.5 days, in 2017.

That places Iraq 37th out of 188 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 16 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 30.33 days 29.5 days 30.5 days 6
2010s 29.2 days 26.5 days 34.5 days 10

Countries ranked near Iraq

  1. 34 Tanzania 29.5 days compare
  2. 35 Palau 28 days compare
  3. 36 Zimbabwe 27 days compare
  4. 38 Peru 26 days compare
  5. 39 Czechia 24.5 days compare
  6. 40 Uganda 24 days compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for Iraq

All data for Iraq →

Frequently asked questions

What is time required to start a business in Iraq?
Time required to start a business in Iraq was 26.5 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 Iraq?
The highest recorded value was 34.5 days in 2015.
What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in Iraq?
The lowest recorded value was 26.5 days in 2017.
How does Iraq rank for time required to start a business?
Iraq ranks 37th out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
Is time required to start a business rising or falling in Iraq?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Iraq 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 — 16 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.