A regional report reveals differences between Latin American countries when it comes to open a companyan action that can take many hours due to various procedures.
He Bureaucracy Index 2025a metric that shows the time—measured in hours—that bureaucratic procedures require companies to open and formally operate, identifies the Dominican Republic, BrazilColombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay as the countries in the region where the process is most efficient.
The study was developed by the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom of the Florida International University (FIU, for its acronym in English).
According to the report, these countries are placed in the group with “best results” in the Opening Bureaucracy Index, which evaluates the total time required to complete administrative procedures essential.
“The Openness Bureaucracy Index shows an average of 1,850 hours required for open a company medium and leave it in conditions of operate formally“details the report.
The research adds that this value “is equivalent to 231 working days eight hours, which represents approximately eight working months dedicated exclusively to complying with the administrative procedures demanded”.
In this sense, the report indicates that in countries such as Brazil This process may involve “a minimum of 35 working days“, while in nations like Chile it represents “around two years.”
He economic cost
The index not only analyzed the cost of bureaucratic procedures in hours, but also addressed other aspects to size the opportunity cost which represents “the excessive bureaucracy“.
When analyzing the financial cost directly, the study details that the estimated expense for the payment of the labor resource dedicated to completing procedures is 4,000 dollars for the opening and $5,800 for business operation procedures.
The report highlights the need for “the legitimate demands are managed quickly, while unnecessary, unjustified or excessively intrusive procedures must be identified and eliminated”, an action that “will contribute to fight corruption and will strengthen social cohesion and the preeminence of rule of law“.
