November 2015eng

BELARUS IN INTERNATIONAL RATINGS AND DOMESTIC STATISTICS November 2015

According to the National Statistics Committee, in JanuaryOctober 2015 (compared to the same period of the previous year): • the GDP volume at constant prices dropped by 3.9%, • the index of industrial production amounted to 92.9%, • the volume of agricultural production at constant prices decreased by 3.9%, • the commissioning of housing from all funding sources amounted to 100.7% As of October 1, 2015, the population of the Republic of Belarus comprised 9 494.2 thousand people. It has increased by 13 335 people compared to the beginning of 2015.

Belarus took 44th place in the Doing Business rating 2016. These are recent studies of the World Bank. The position of Belarus is one of the strongest among the CIS members.

Only Kazakhstan (41st) and Armenia (35th) have higher positions in the rating, Russia is back by 7 positions. A total of 189 countries were represented on the list.

This year Singapore remains leader among the countries with the most favorable business conditions, New Zealand remains 2nd, Denmark was ranked 3rd, pressing back Hong Kong.

November 2015 The World Bank Report provides the ranking of countries by key aspects of legal regulation of business activity of national companies. The ranking is based on 10 indicators: the complexity of registering a new business, dealing with construction permits, electricity connection, property registration and others.

Belarus ranks 85th place among 174 countries which were represented in the world ranking of investment attractiveness International Business Compass 2015. In 2014, Belarus ranked 115th position. The rating has been compiled by the Hamburg Institute of International Economics in cooperation with the audit firm BDO every year since 2012.

Switzerland tops the list. Singapore, Hong Kong, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, the UK, Sweden and New Zealand also enter the top-10. The USA took 14th place. Ukraine ranks 89th place, Russia – 100th.

According to the rating of quality of life assigned by Numbeo (the world's largest database of user content, dedicated to cities and countries.), Belarus took 54th position. The country has the best result among its partners in the Eurasian Economic Union – Russia, Kazakhstan and Armenia.

Russia ranks 72th position, Kazakhstan – 63th, Armenia – 60th.

Kyrgyzstan is not represented in the ranking.

The top places are taken by Switzerland, Germany and Sweden.

The United States, Finland, Denmark, Austria, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are also at the top-10.

November 2015 The updated information on the cost-of-living and conditions of life, property prices, healthcare and crime, transport and environmental pollution was taken into account during the preparation of the present rating.

The information was collected with the help of online research, without the use of official government reports.

Belarus took 63rd place in the tax burden ranking (Paying Taxes 2016).

A total of 189 economies around the world were involved in the ranking, which was drawn up by the World Bank and the auditing firm PwC. The tax burden as a percentage of the model company that does not use tax benefits, the amount of taxes and the required number of hours for their payment were taken into account during the preparation of the ranking.

According to the rating, average tax burden (Total Tax Rate) in Belarus amounted to 51.8%, while the average figure is 40.8%.

Russia ranked 47th place (TTR – 47%), Uzbekistan – 115th place (TTR –41,1%), Georgia – 40th place (TTR – 16,4%), Moldova – 78th place (TTR – 40,2%), Armenia – 41th place (TTR – 19,9%), Bulgaria – 88th place (TTR – 27%), Ukraine – 107th place (TTR – 52,2%).

Belarus took 63th place in the ranking of Legatum Institute according to the Legatum Prosperity Index. A total of 142 countries were involved in the research 2015.

November 2015 The index is based on 79 different indicators, combined into 8 categories that reflect various aspects of society and the parameters of social welfare: economy, entrepreneurship, administration, education, healthcare, security, individual freedoms, social capital.

Kazakhstan ranks 56th , Russia is rated 58th, Kyrgyzstan is ranked 66th, Armenia – 93rd.

International non-governmental organization the World Justice Project presented the Rule of Law rating (The Rule of Law Index 2015) in which Belarus took 50th place.

The rating is based on the evaluation of experts, as well as on the opinion polls, which were carried out in 102 countries around the world. The authors of the rating took into account such key factors as the absence of corruption, orderliness and security, limitation of authority of the institutions of power, transparency of government institutions, protection of fundamental rights, respect of law, civil justice, criminal justice.

Kazakhstan holds 65th place, Moldova – 69th, Ukraine – 70th, Kyrgyzstan – 74th, Russia – 75th, Uzbekistan – 81th.

The top-5 comprises of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands.

Belarus holds 53th position in the ranking of countries according to the Global Innovation Index 2015.

Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States are the world leaders in the area of innovation.

November 2015 The Global Innovation Index 2015 examines the "effective innovation policy for the further development" and reveals new ways that will help policy-makers in developing economies to strengthen innovation and stimulate growth based on local advantages and ensuring the development of a robust national innovation environment. The rating was assigned in cooperation with Cornell University, business school INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Belarus ranked 25th in the world rating by the number of fixed broadband subscribers (28.8 per 100 people) among 195 countries which were involved in the study. Such data are contained in the report of the UN Commission on broadband published on the website of the International Telecommunication Union.

Among the post-Soviet countries only Lithuania is ahead of Belarus, it occupied 20th place. Russia ranked 56th, Moldova - 64th, Ukraine - 86th.

The 1st place with a score of 46.8 subscribers per 100 inhabitants belongs to Monaco, the 2nd – to Switzerland (46 subscribers), the 3rd – to Denmark (41.4 subscribers).

Ten companies-residents of High Technologies Park entered the Software 500 ranking, published by one of the most influential publications of the world high-tech industry – Software Magazine. The rating is headed by IBM followed by Microsoft, Oracle, HP, SAP, Apple.

November 2015 As for the Belarusian companies, the IHS entered the first hundred, and took 64th place among the largest software companies.

Company EPAM Systems was ranked 122th, Bell Integrator was ranked 228th place. Ericpol Telecom took 296th place, IBA – 301th, Itransition - 374th in the Software 500 ranking.

SoftClub ranks 417th, Coherent Solution — 418th , Artezio — 436th , Intetics — 444th .

National Geographic Traveler magazine held a contest for the best tourist destinations among the most popular forms of recreation – National Geographic Traveler Awards 2015. The winners are determined by the results of Internet voting. Over 240 thousand people took part in the survey.

As a result of the contest National Geographic Traveler Awards 2015, Belarus took 2nd place in the nomination “Agrotourism”. Only Italy surpassed our country by 26%. Slovakia gained 20%, followed by Moldova with 18%, Russia 9%, Serbia with 8%, Australia 4% and Lithuania with 3%.

In the nomination "Family vacation" Belarus shared 10th place with Austria, Russia (Kaliningrad), the United States and Thailand. In the nomination "Recreation vacation" Belarus shared 8th place with Hungary, Crimea, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Sri Lanka. Belarusian Belavia was ranked in the nomination "Best International Airline". It shared 7th place with airlines AZAL, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, KLM, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Ryanair, Singapore Airlines, Wizzair and "Aeroflot".

November 2015 Belarus holds 37th position in the annual ranking of the Global Creativity Index-2015 occupying the highest position among the CIS countries.

A total of 139 countries participated in the research. Belarus is followed by Russia which held 38th position. Australia, the USA and New Zealand became the leaders of the Global Creativity Index2015. Five Western European countries — Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and the Netherlands – are also at the top 10.

Within the research, experts estimate countries in accordance with three “T” – “Talent”, “Technology” and “Tolerance”.

Belarus takes 64th place оf 96 in terms of quality of life of seniors. This is evidenced by the Global AgeWatch Index 2015.

The index includes four main indicators – income guarantee (the level of pensions, poverty and welfare), health status (also life expectancy and psychological well-being), opportunities (duration of active life, occupation, employment) and an enabling environment (access to transport, the level of social relations, etc.).

According to the figures, Belarus ranks 50th, 84th, 66th and 44th places respectively. Russia held 65th position in the ranking. Ukraine ranked 73rd. Lithuania held 63rd position. Poland and Latvia ranked 32th and 35th places respectively. Switzerland, Norway and Sweden are the leaders of the Global AgeWacth Index.

November 2015 JSC "Savushkin Product" dairy products were awarded with several prizes in the International Tasting Competition (The Superior Taste Award (Belgium).

Cheese "Brest-Litovsk Ekstravyderzhanny", the classic cottage cheese "Savushkin hutorok" and yoghurt products "Savushkin slivochny" received Two Gold Stars according to The Superior Taste Award. The value of these awards is enhanced by competitive environment in which Belarusian companies had to emulate. Participants included world leaders: the largest transnational corporations, such as Bacardi, Coca-Cola, Danone, Schweppes, Unilever, Heineken, Pepsico and others.

Organizers of the contest note that "Savushkin product" was the only Belarusian dairy enterprise which received the award within the duration of this prestigious international competition.

Belarusian State University ranked among the 800 best universities in the world by the British specialist magazine Times Higher Education.

BSU has become the only Belarusian University listed in the rating staying in a group of educational institutions holding seats from 601th to 800th.

The top-5 includes the California Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, University of Stanford, University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Among Belarus's neighboring countries, the biggest number of positions in the ranking belongs to Russian universities: there are 13 universities, including Moscow State University. Kiev National University named after Taras Shevchenko and Vilnius University are in one group with BSU. As well as BSU, they are the only institutions of Higher Education of the country which were included in the rating.

There are 7 universities of Poland (the highest position – 501-600 – belongs to the University of Warsaw) and the University of Latvia (601-800th positions) in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-2016.

November 2015 Minsk took 114th position in the ranking of the most visited tourist destinations Global Destinations Cities Index (GDCI) which is annually presented by the international payment system MasterCard. Experts pointed out that in 2015 the capital of Belarus might be visited by 273 thousand foreign tourists.

London became the most visited destination for the fifth time in the last 7 years. According to the research, in 2015, it was visited by about 18.82 million international travelers.

The top-10 includes Bangkok, Paris, Dubai, Istanbul, New York, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Hong Kong.

Belarus ranks 1st place in the world by the number of bisons living in natural conditions.

In August 2015, there were 1200 individuals in our country – this is the best figure in the world by the number of bisons that live in a state of natural freedom.

Information Department Ministry of Foreign Affaires of the Republic of Belarus Ul.Lenina, 19, Minsk, 220030, tel. (00375 17) 327 29 22 fax (00375 17) 210 42 50, 327 45 21 www.mfa.gov.by