India ranks 97th on Forbes’ best countries for business list

India has ranked a low 97th out of 144 nations, behind Kazakhstan and Ghana, on Forbes’ annual list of the best countries for business in 2015, scoring poorly on metrics like trade and monetary freedom and tackling challenges like corruption and violence.

Best Countries For Business List

	Rank	Name	GDP Growth	GDP per Capita	Trade Balance/GDP	Population
	#1	Denmark	1.1%	$44,600	6.3%	5.6 M
	#2	New Zealand	3.3%	$35,300	-3.2%	4.4 M
	#3	Norway	2.2%	$67,200	9.4%	5.2 M
	#4	Ireland	5.2%	$51,300	3.7%	4.9 M
	#5	Sweden	2.3%	$46,200	6.2%	9.8 M
	#6	Finland	-0.4%	$40,700	-1.8%	5.5 M
	#7	Canada	2.4%	$45,000	-2.1%	35.1 M
	#8	Singapore	2.9%	$83,100	19.1%	5.7 M
	#9	Netherlands	1%	$48,000	10.4%	16.9 M
	#10	United Kingdom	3%	$39,800	-5.9%	64.1 M
	#11	Hong Kong	2.5%	$55,100	1.9%	7.1 M
	#12	Switzerland	1.9%	$58,100	7.2%	8.1 M
	#13	Iceland	1.8%	$44,000	3.6%	0.3 M
	#14	Australia	2.7%	$46,600	-3%	22.8 M
	#15	Belgium	1.1%	$43,100	1.6%	11.3 M
	#16	Portugal	0.9%	$27,100	0.6%	10.8 M
	#17	Lithuania	3%	$27,300	0.1%	2.9 M
	#18	Germany	1.6%	$46,200	7.4%	80.9 M
	#19	Estonia	2.9%	$27,900	0.1%	1.3 M
	#20	Slovenia	3%	$29,900	6.9%	2 M
	#21	Taiwan	3.8%	$46,000	12.4%	23.4 M
	#22	United States	2.4%	$54,400	-2.2%	321.4 M
	#23	Japan	-0.1%	$37,500	0.5%	126.9 M
	#24	Luxembourg	5.6%	$97,600	5.2%	0.6 M
	#25	Israel	2.6%	$33,100	4.4%	8 M
	#26	Malta	3.5%	$33,200	3.4%	0.4 M
	#27	Latvia	2.4%	$23,800	-3%	2 M
	#28	Austria	0.4%	$46,600	0.7%	8.7 M
	#29	France	0.2%	$40,500	-0.9%	66.6 M
	#30	Chile	1.9%	$23,100	-1.1%	17.5 M
	#31	Cyprus	-2.3%	$30,900	-4.9%	1.2 M
	#32	Spain	1.4%	$33,800	0.8%	48.1 M
	#33	South Korea	3.3%	$35,400	6.3%	49.1 M
	#34	Malaysia	6%	$25,100	4.4%	30.5 M
	#35	Italy	-0.4%	$35,100	1.9%	61.9 M
	#36	Poland	3.4%	$25,200	-1.3%	38.6 M
	#37	Mauritius	3.6%	$18,700	-5.5%	1.3 M
	#38	Czech Republic	2%	$30,000	0.6%	10.6 M
	#39	Macedonia	3.8%	$13,400	-1.4%	2.1 M
	#40	United Arab Emirates	4.6%	$66,300	13.6%	5.8 M
	#41	Slovakia	2.4%	$28,300	-	5.4 M
	#42	Hungary	3.6%	$25,000	4.2%	9.9 M
	#43	Georgia	4.8%	$9,200	-10%	4.9 M
	#44	Romania	2.8%	$19,700	-0.4%	21.7 M
	#45	Bulgaria	1.7%	$17,900	-	7.2 M
	#46	Croatia	-0.4%	$20,900	0.7%	4.5 M
	#47	South Africa	1.5%	$13,100	-5.4%	53.7 M
	#48	Qatar	4%	$137,200	25.9%	2.2 M
	#49	Montenegro	1.5%	$15,100	-15%	0.6 M
	#50	Greece	0.8%	$26,000	0.9%	10.8 M
	#51	Uruguay	3.5%	$21,100	-4.5%	3.3 M
	#52	Costa Rica	3.5%	$14,900	-4.8%	4.8 M
	#53	Mexico	2.1%	$18,000	-1.9%	121.7 M
	#54	Turkey	2.9%	$19,700	-5.8%	79.4 M
	#55	Peru	2.4%	$11,900	-3.9%	30.4 M
	#56	Panama	6.2%	$19,500	-11.8%	3.7 M
	#57	Kazakhstan	4.3%	$24,100	2.1%	18.2 M
	#58	Azerbaijan	2.8%	$17,800	13.4%	9.8 M
	#59	Jamaica	0.4%	$8,600	-7.3%	3 M
	#60	Jordan	3.1%	$12,000	-6.7%	8.1 M
	#61	Ukraine	-6.8%	$8,700	-4.6%	44.4 M
	#62	Morocco	2.4%	$7,800	-5.3%	33.3 M
	#63	Trinidad and Tobago	0.8%	$32,200	5.5%	1.2 M
	#64	Mongolia	7.8%	$11,900	-8.4%	3 M
	#65	Colombia	4.6%	$13,500	-5.1%	46.7 M
	#66	Armenia	3.4%	$8,200	-7.6%	3.1 M
	#67	Moldova	4.6%	$5,000	-3.8%	3.5 M
	#68	Botswana	4.4%	$17,000	15%	2.2 M
	#69	Albania	1.9%	$11,400	-12.7%	3 M
	#70	Bahrain	4.5%	$49,000	3.3%	1.3 M
	#71	Cape Verde	1.8%	$6,400	-7.1%	0.5 M
	#72	Rwanda	6.9%	$1,700	-11.8%	12.7 M
	#73	Zambia	5.6%	$4,100	-1.4%	15.1 M
	#74	Saudi Arabia	3.5%	$52,300	10.2%	27.8 M
	#75	Thailand	0.9%	$15,600	3.6%	68 M
	#76	Kuwait	0.1%	$70,700	29.9%	2.8 M
	#77	Oman	2.9%	$43,800	9.9%	3.3 M
	#78	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.1%	$9,900	-7.4%	3.9 M
	#79	Ghana	4%	$4,100	-10.4%	26.3 M
	#80	Senegal	4.7%	$2,400	-8.7%	14 M
	#81	Russia	0.6%	$24,400	3.2%	142.4 M
	#82	Tunisia	2.3%	$11,300	-8.8%	11 M
	#83	Serbia	-1.8%	$13,400	-6.2%	7.2 M
	#84	Philippines	6.1%	$7,000	4.4%	101 M
	#85	Namibia	4.5%	$10,700	-11.3%	2.2 M
	#86	El Salvador	2%	$8,100	-4.7%	6.1 M
	#87	Dominican Republic	7.3%	$14,000	-3.2%	10.5 M
	#88	Seychelles	3.3%	$25,800	-20.3%	0.1 M
	#89	Guatemala	4.2%	$7,500	-2.4%	14.9 M
	#90	Brazil	0.1%	$16,200	-4.4%	204.3 M
	#91	Sri Lanka	7.4%	$10,400	-2.8%	22.1 M
	#92	Guyana	3.8%	$6,900	-15.2%	0.7 M
	#93	Indonesia	5%	$10,700	-3%	256 M
	#94	China	7.3%	$13,200	2.1%	1,367.5 M
	#95	Kyrgyzstan	3.6%	$3,300	-16.3%	5.7 M
	#96	Mozambique	7.4%	$1,200	-34.9%	25.3 M
	#97	India	7.3%	$5,800	-1.3%	1,251.7 M
	#98	Lesotho	3.4%	$2,900	-7.2%	1.9 M
	#99	Lebanon	2%	$18,100	-26.2%	6.2 M
	#100	Argentina	0.5%	$22,300	-1%	43.4 M
	#101	Bhutan	6.4%	$7,700	-22%	0.7 M
	#102	Madagascar	3.3%	$1,400	-0.2%	23.8 M
	#103	Pakistan	4%	$4,700	-1.3%	199.1 M
	#104	Burkina Faso	4%	$1,700	-5.7%	18.9 M
	#105	Vietnam	6%	$5,700	4.9%	94.3 M
	#106	Cote d'Ivoire	7.9%	$3,100	-0.7%	23.3 M
	#107	Honduras	3.1%	$4,700	-7.5%	8.7 M
	#108	Kenya	5.3%	$3,100	-10.1%	45.9 M
	#109	Paraguay	4.4%	$8,500	0.1%	6.8 M
	#110	Tajikistan	6.7%	$2,700	-9.3%	8.2 M
	#111	Benin	5.4%	$1,900	-7.5%	10.4 M
	#112	Liberia	0.7%	$900	-27.9%	4.2 M
	#113	Swaziland	2.5%	$9,600	3.3%	1.4 M
	#114	Uganda	4.8%	$1,900	-10.2%	37.1 M
	#115	Tanzania	7%	$2,700	-12.2%	51 M
	#116	Sierra Leone	7.1%	$2,100	-8.6%	5.9 M
	#117	Egypt	2.2%	$10,900	-0.8%	88.5 M
	#118	Nepal	5.4%	$2,400	4.6%	31.6 M
	#119	Mali	7.2%	$1,700	-7.3%	17 M
	#120	Ecuador	3.8%	$11,300	-0.6%	15.9 M
	#121	Bangladesh	6.3%	$3,400	-0.1%	169 M
	#122	Nigeria	6.3%	$6,100	0.2%	181.6 M
	#123	Burundi	4.7%	$900	-17.9%	10.7 M
	#124	Cambodia	7%	$3,300	-12%	15.7 M
	#125	Malawi	5.7%	$1,100	-4.9%	18 M
	#126	Nicaragua	4.7%	$4,800	-7.1%	5.9 M
	#127	Gabon	4.3%	$20,800	7.3%	1.7 M
	#128	Bolivia	5.5%	$6,200	-	10.8 M
	#129	Mauritania	6.9%	$4,300	-34.3%	3.6 M
	#130	Iran	4.3%	$17,400	3.9%	81.8 M
	#131	Cameroon	5.7%	$3,000	-4.5%	23.7 M
	#132	Angola	4.8%	$7,300	-1.5%	19.6 M
	#133	Zimbabwe	3.3%	$2,100	-22.2%	14.2 M
	#134	Laos	7.4%	$5,000	-27.7%	6.9 M
	#135	Ethiopia	10.3%	$1,600	-8.8%	99.5 M
	#136	Yemen	-0.2%	$3,800	-1.6%	26.7 M
	#137	Algeria	3.8%	$13,900	-4.2%	39.5 M
	#138	Venezuela	-4%	$17,800	5.2%	29.3 M
	#139	Gambia	-0.2%	$1,600	-11.8%	2 M
	#140	Myanmar	8.5%	$4,800	-5.9%	56.3 M
	#141	Haiti	2.8%	$1,800	-6.2%	10.1 M
	#142	Libya	-24%	$15,900	-25.1%	6.4 M
	#143	Guinea	1.1%	$1,300	-24%	11.8 M
	#144	Chad	6.9%	$2,600	-7.8%	11.6 M

Denmark topped the list of the 144 nations on the Best Countries of Business in 2015 list by Forbes.

The US has dropped four spots to number 22, continuing a six-year descent since 2009 when it had ranked second overall.

The US is the financial capital of the world and its largest economy at USD 17.4 trillion (China is second at USD 10.4 trillion), but it scores poorly on monetary freedom and bureaucracy/red tape, Forbes said.

India is ranked 97th on the list, with Forbes saying that while the country is developing into an open-market economy, traces of its “past autarkic policies” remain. 

Other categories

India performed moderately well on certain factors, ranking eighth on investor protection, 41st on innovation, 57th on personal freedom and 61st on property rights.

It scored low on trade freedom, ranking 125th and on monetary freedom it ranked 139th. On technology it ranked 120th, 77th on corruption and 123rd on red tape.