Hungary's business competitiveness index has deteriorated, according to a World Bank survey.

Hungary has dropped to the 66th economic position among 175 countries from being the 60th last year, the Nepszabadsag daily quoted the survey as saying on Thursday.

The rankings reflected the economic and business environment for companies, the criterion of which included tax regime, the protection of investors and the number of new start-ups.

Hungary slipped from 80th to 87th position for new companies registered.

A typical Hungarian firm needs 38 days to be registered compared with 32 days in the rest of eastern Europe, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's average of 16.6 days.

Moreover, Hungary is the second most expensive place in terms of gross national product percent capitation to start up a new company in the region after Poland. Almost every country in the Central Europe Estate region beats Hungary, according to the World Bank survey. Slovakia is well ahead in 36th place due to its business-friendly reputation and flat tax.

More surprising perhaps is that the two European Union hopefuls, Romania and Bulgaria, are ranked 49th and 54th respectively.

The most business-friendly country is Singapore, followed by the United States, New Zealand and Canada.

Source: Xinhua