Regulation Index
A composite assessment of regulatory quality, burden, and stability across 190 countries — covering business entry, labour, financial services, competition, digital regulation, trade, and the political economy of whether regulatory frameworks will survive. Higher scores indicate better-quality, more stable, and more proportionate regulation.
A representative selection of Regulation Index scores across the spectrum. The full dataset — including all eight category sub-scores — is available on subscription.
Highest regulatory quality
✓ Public| # | Country | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 95.4 | Very High |
| 2 | New Zealand | 94.8 | Very High |
| 3 | Denmark | 93.7 | Very High |
| 4 | Finland | 93.2 | Very High |
| 5 | Netherlands | 92.6 | Very High |
| 6 | UK | 91.9 | Very High |
| 7 | Germany | 91.3 | Very High |
| 8 | Sweden | 90.8 | Very High |
| 9 | Norway | 90.4 | Very High |
| 10 | Switzerland | 89.9 | Very High |
Lowest regulatory quality
✓ Public| # | Country | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 190 | Somalia | 2.3 | Very Low |
| 189 | Yemen | 3.1 | Very Low |
| 188 | Libya | 4.7 | Very Low |
| 187 | South Sudan | 5.8 | Very Low |
| 186 | Syria | 6.4 | Very Low |
| 185 | Venezuela | 7.9 | Very Low |
| 184 | Eritrea | 9.2 | Very Low |
| 183 | Sudan | 10.6 | Very Low |
| 182 | Haiti | 11.8 | Very Low |
| 181 | C. African Rep. | 13.1 | Very Low |
Full Regulation Index · 190 countries
⬤ Subscription requiredWhat the Regulation Index measures
The index covers eight distinct regulatory domains — from the friction of starting a business to the stability of financial services frameworks and the state of digital regulation. The key differentiator from existing indices is the digital regulation category, the global coverage of 190 countries, and the explicit treatment of regulatory stability as a separate risk variable rather than a footnote.
Business Entry & Licensing
- Time and procedures to register a business
- Construction permitting efficiency
- Licensing requirements in regulated sectors
- Import/export customs clearance burden
- Electricity and utility connection time
Labour & Employment Regulation
- Employment protection legislation (EPL) index
- Mandatory severance and notice periods
- Non-wage labour costs (% of salary)
- Working hours flexibility
- Collective bargaining coverage
Financial Services Regulation
- Banking supervision quality (IMF FSAP ratings)
- Basel III implementation status
- Securities market regulation maturity
- FinTech regulatory framework and sandbox
- Consumer financial protection strength
Competition & Antitrust
- Competition authority independence and resourcing
- Merger review efficiency (time to decision)
- Cartel enforcement track record
- State aid and SOE subsidy controls
- Leniency programme availability
Digital & Technology Regulation
- Data protection framework maturity
- AI regulatory framework (binding vs voluntary)
- Digital market and platform regulation
- Cybersecurity regulatory requirements
- Crypto-asset and VASP regulatory status
Environmental & Planning Regulation
- Environmental impact assessment requirements
- Infrastructure permitting efficiency
- Environmental enforcement capacity
- Carbon pricing and environmental taxation
- Biodiversity and land use permitting
Trade & Customs Regulation
- Time and documents to export and import
- Customs automation and single window
- Non-tariff measure prevalence and type
- Standards harmonisation with key partners
- Mutual recognition agreement coverage
Regulatory Quality & Stability
- Regulatory Impact Assessment requirements
- Public consultation standards and practice
- Frequency of major regulatory reversals (5yr)
- Regulatory agency independence from politics
- Investment treaty coverage and ISDS history
- Forced localisation and discrimination risk
Standard regulatory quality indices measure whether good rules exist. PoliData’s index adds what most miss: the probability those rules survive. The Regulatory Quality & Stability category explicitly incorporates regulatory reversal history, political capture risk, and investment treaty exposure — making the index useful not just for current market entry decisions, but for assessing jurisdictional risk over a 3–5 year investment horizon.
Built for regulatory market intelligence
Regulatory quality is a primary driver of market attractiveness and investment risk. The Regulation Index provides a structured, comparable, and annually-updated picture of the regulatory environment across 190 markets — enabling decisions that country visits and anecdotal intelligence alone cannot support.
Market entry regulatory mapping
Law firms and professional services firms advising clients on market entry use regulatory quality scores to benchmark jurisdictions and identify the highest-friction regulatory domains before scoping legal work.
Jurisdictional risk in portfolio geographies
PE funds with multi-geography portfolios use regulatory stability scores to assess the risk of post-investment regulatory change — particularly in labour, financial services, and digital regulation.
Government affairs benchmarking
Multinational government affairs teams use the index to benchmark their home and host markets, identify advocacy priorities, and track regulatory improvement or deterioration in real time.
Regulatory competitiveness analysis
Industry associations use regulatory burden scores across countries to make the case for reform, demonstrate competitive disadvantage, and support policy submissions to governments and regulators.
Get full access to the Regulation Index
190 countries. Eight regulatory domains. Quarterly updates covering business entry, labour, digital, financial services, and regulatory stability.