WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia ranked 49 among the 189 countries surveyed for the latest World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report as Singapore topped the list.

Singapore with 88.27 points occupies the top position in the ease of doing business followed by New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark and South Korea respectively.

“’Doing Business’ measures a slender segment of the complex organism that any modern economy is,” admitted World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu in a forward to the report.

“An economy can do poorly on ‘Doing Business’ indicators but do well in macroeconomic policy or social welfare interventions.”

The UAE, ranked 22, leads the Middle East rankings. Other Gulf states received the following positions: Qatar (50), Bahrain (53) Oman (66) and Kuwait (86)

Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency, a World Bank Group flagship publication, is the 12th in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.

Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies— from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe— and over time.

Among other major countries, the US has been ranked seventh, Britain (eight), China (90), Philippines (95) Sri Lanka (99), India (142), Nepal (108), Maldives (116), Bhutan (125), and Pakistan (128).

The top 10 was filled out by Denmark, South Korea, Norway, the US, Britain, Finland and Australia, mostly the same developed economies as in previous years.