20 October (ERR)

Estonia lost significant ground in this year's Ease of Doing Business ranking compiled by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, slipping six places to land at 24th. The newly-released report, which covers the period from June 2010 to May 2011, rates 183 countries on criteria such as ease of registering property, paying taxes and enforcing contracts.

Estonia's slip from 18th position puts it behind the likes of Macedonia, Thailand and the United Kingdom and just ahead of Taiwan. It also falls behind Baltic neighbor Latvia, which saw its ranking jump 10 places this year.

Topping the list, and not for the first time, were Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand, whereas the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Chad fared worst.

Though Estonia still ranks third in ease of trading across borders, it saw its rank drop in eight out of ten categories, most notably that of dealing with construction permits, where it plummeted 52 places to hit 89th. Even its system that theoretically allows entrepreneurs to register a company online in just minutes didn't make an impression - the country ranks 44th in ease of starting a business.

The Doing Business Project has been producing its annual ranking list since 2002.