Policy Indicators Group

Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. 

Women, Business and the Law 2024 is the 10th in a series of annual studies measuring the enabling conditions that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. WBL 2024 introduces two new indicators—Safety and Childcare—and presents findings on the implementation gap between laws (de jure) and how they function in practice (de facto). This study presents three indexes: (1) legal frameworks, (2) supportive frameworks, and (3) expert opinions on women’s rights in practice in the areas measured. The study’s 10 indicators—Safety, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension—are structured around the different stages of a woman’s working life.

Subnational B-READY studies assess the business environment across different locations within countries and regions, adapting the B-READY methodology to local contexts. The assessments provide detailed, quantitative data and analyses on topics that contribute to a dynamic, resilient private sector. Explore Subnational in-depth country studies to see how these insights help drive targeted policy reforms and support inclusive economic growth.

Policy Indicators Briefs (PIBs) provide policy-oriented analysis grounded in the World Bank’s data, research, and global evidence. PIBs translate complex findings into clear insights for policymakers on economic growth, job creation, firm dynamics, productivity and innovation, regulatory reform, and gender equality. Each brief synthesizes rigorous analytics and the wider literature to highlight actionable implications for economic policy and public debate. Each brief is designed to help readers understand key challenges and design effective reforms.

The Enterprise Analysis Unit's research aims at understanding how the business environment affects firm performance in developing countries. Data from the Enterprise Surveys serves as the primary input, complemented with similar firm-level surveys and other relevant data sources. 

Country Highlights summarize the key findings from the Enterprise Survey, including performance and business environment indicators. Analysis includes changes over time, indicator differences with the country’s geographic region and to other countries with similar income levels, and differences between a country’s subnational locations.

In September 2021, World Bank Group management decided to discontinue the Doing Business report. However, the Doing Business website continues to be publicly available as an archive of knowledge and data.