Singapore leads World Bank business ranking for ninth year on the trot

Singapore has been ranked the best country to do business for a ninth consecutive year, according to an annual survey by the World Bank.

New Zealand came second and Hong Kong third in the lender's 'Doing Business' report which rates 189 nations by the ease in which firms can operate there.

The UK moved up one position to eighth while the US stayed at number seven.

Eritrea was at the bottom of the table, along with Libya, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The World Bank ranking uses metrics such as the time taken to launch and close a business, gain construction permits and pay taxes in a country's largest business city, the report said.