New PwC ‘heatmap’ evaluates EMEA private business climate

Switzerland, Norway, UK, Germany, Sweden and France lead the rankings as best places for private businesses and entrepreneurship to flourish in PwC’s first-ever EMEA Private Business (EPB) Heatmap.

The EPB Heatmap ranks the attractiveness of 34 European, Middle Eastern and African countries across categories, including:

• Macroeconomics
• Private Business Landscape
• Tax and Regulatory environment
• Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics
• Public Health
• Education, Skills and Talent
• Technology Infrastructure

Cyprus ranks in the “advancing” category, placing 12th, with an overall score of 54.5, while The Netherlands ranks 11th (54.8) and Luxembourg 10th (54.9). Cyprus achieved a high ranking in the Macroeconomics (5th) and Tax-Regulatory environment (4th) categories. At the same time, however, the Heatmap’s findings highlight a few categories in which the island still has a long way to go. These fields have to do with ESG metrics (31st) and Technology Infrastructure (18th). PwC acknowledges the importance of ESG and Technology Infrastructure for the future of entrepreneurship, and has made them a priority in its new global strategy, “The New Equation”.

Switzerland leads the EPB Heatmap, mainly because of its economically-active population and highest gross national income (GNI) per capita, as well as its large investor community, high foreign direct investment and ease of paying taxes.

The key findings include:

• Five countries rank as the leading jurisdictions this year
• A further 12 jurisdictions rank in the “advancing” category this year, with an EPB Heatmap overall score of at least 50 out of 100
• 12 jurisdictions were identified as “developing”, with an EPB Heatmap score of between 40 and 50 out of 100
• Five jurisdictions were identified as “emerging”, with an EPB Heatmap score of less than 40 out of 100
• All four Nordic countries placed within the top 10 jurisdictions, based on overall EPB Heatmap rankings: Norway (2nd), Sweden (5th), Denmark (7th) and Finland (8th). Sweden ranks top within the ESG and Public Health categories. Norway co-leads the Education, Skills and Talent category
• The UK also performs strongly, with a 3rd-place ranking overall

Explore the full findings here.

Learn more about PwC Cyprus here.