Time required to start a business in United States

United States: Time required to start a business was 4.2 days in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
4.2 days
Change on year
down 25.0%
World rank
167th
of 188 countries
All-time high
6.2 days
in 2013
All-time low
4.2 days
in 2019
Years of data
7
2013–2019

Time required to start a business in United States, 2013–2019

02462013201620192013: 6.2 days2014: 5.6 days2015: 5.6 days2016: 5.6 days2017: 5.6 days2018: 5.6 days2019: 4.2 days

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

Analysis

In 2019, time required to start a business in United States stood at 4.2 days. That is the lowest value across all 7 years on record.

The figure is down 25.0% on the previous year and down 32.3% over ten years.

United States ranks 167th of 188 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 166 Oman 4.3 days compare
  2. 168 Armenia 4 days compare
  3. 168 Chile 4 days compare
  4. 168 France 4 days compare
  5. 168 Greece 4 days compare
  6. 168 Moldova 4 days compare
  7. 168 Norway 4 days compare
  8. 168 Rwanda 4 days compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is time required to start a business in United States?
Time required to start a business in United States was 4.2 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 United States?
The highest recorded value was 6.2 days in 2013.
What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 4.2 days in 2019.
How does United States rank for time required to start a business?
United States ranks 167th out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
Is time required to start a business rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is down 32.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States 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 — 7 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.