Skip to main content

India's business entry density, indicator of entrepreneurial dynamism, is one of the poorest: World Bank report

By A Representative
At a time when India’s rulers are basking in happiness that international consultants, Ernst and Young, have pointed to how India has overtaken China in foreign direct investment (FDI), considering this an indicator of the new business climate under the Modi government, a World Bank report has found that the country utterly lacks in dynamism in entrepreneurial activity.
The just-released World Bank report, “World Development Indicators 2016”, has found India’s business entry density, which calculates the number of newly registered limited liability corporations per 1,000 people in the age group 15–64, is one of the lowest in the world.
At just about 0.12 per 1000 people in the age group 15-59, the calculation shows that the world average of business entry density is 4.01. By way of comparison, the density in the United Kingdom is 12.90, in South Africa it is 6.54, in Russia it is 4.20, and in Brazil it is 2.88.
Of course, there is some consolation, as the neighbouring Pakistan’s business entry density is worse than India’s, at just 0.04, and Bangladesh’s 0.09, yet in Sri Lanka it is higher, at 0.51, in Nepal it is 0.69, and in Afghanistan it is 0.15.
A measurement which shows the rate at which new businesses are added to an economy, suggesting dynamism and entrepreneurial activity, the data on business entry density are from the World Bank’s 2015 Entrepreneurship Database, which includes indicators for more than 150 countries.
“Survey data are used to analyze firm creation, its relationship to economic growth and poverty reduction, and the impact of regulatory and institutional reforms”, the World Bank report points out.
Another World Bank source says that the new business entry density would show the number of newly registered firms, in which ownership liability is limited to its investment, per calendar year, normalized by population.
“This is a valuable indicator which quantifies the impact of regulatory, political, and macroeconomic institutional changes on new business registration, a vital component of a dynamic private sector”, it adds.
Data on India’s poor business entry density, significantly, has been revealed at a time when the manufacturing value added as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), claimed to capture the role of manufacturing in an economy, has been nearly stagnant in India.
While worldwide, the World Bank report shows, it is 16 percent, in East Asia and Pacific it is 22 percent, in China it is 32 percent, and in Thailand 28 percent. It says, “In South Asia the share has remained fairly constant since 1990; it was about 17 percent in 2014. Between 1990 and 2014 the share increased slightly, from 16 percent to 17 percent, in India, while Bangladesh registered a larger increase, from 13 percent to 17 percent.”
Coming to yet another measure, of innovation is the intensity of research and development, measured as expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP, the report says, “Worldwide, it increased slightly from 1.6 percent in 2007 to 1.7 percent in 2013, despite the period’s global financial crisis.”
It adds, “Asia was the first to recover; in particular China’s research and development intensity grew from 1.4 percent in 2007 to 2.0 percent in 2013. In other emerging economies the rise was slower — from 1.1 percent in 2007 to 1.2 percent in 2012 in Brazil — or stagnant — around 0.8 percent in 2007 and 2011 in India.”
---
Click HERE to download full report

Comments

TRENDING

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C.  In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

Advocacy group decries 'hyper-centralization' as States’ share of health funds plummets

By A Representative   In a major pre-budget mobilization, the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), India’s leading public health advocacy network, has issued a sharp critique of the Union government’s health spending and demanded a doubling of the health budget for the upcoming 2026-27 fiscal year. 

Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s views on religion as Tagore’s saw them

By Harasankar Adhikari   Religion has become a visible subject in India’s public discourse, particularly where it intersects with political debate. Recent events, including a mass Gita chanting programme in Kolkata and other incidents involving public expressions of faith, have drawn attention to how religion features in everyday life. These developments have raised questions about the relationship between modern technological progress and traditional religious practice.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra*  The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Election bells ringing in Nepal: Can ousted premier Oli return to power?

By Nava Thakuria*  Nepal is preparing for a national election necessitated by the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government at the height of a Gen Z rebellion (youth uprising) in September 2025. The polls are scheduled for 5 March. The Himalayan nation last conducted a general election in 2022, with the next polls originally due in 2027.  However, following the dissolution of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament last year by President Ram Chandra Poudel, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government installed on 12 September under the leadership of retired Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki. The Hindu-majority nation of over 29 million people will witness more than 3,400 electoral candidates, including 390 women, representing 68 political parties as well as independents, vying for 165 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Zhou Enlai: The enigmatic premier who stabilized chaos—at what cost?

By Harsh Thakor*  Zhou Enlai (1898–1976) served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1949 until his death and as Foreign Minister from 1949 to 1958. He played a central role in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for over five decades, contributing to its organization, military efforts, diplomacy, and governance. His tenure spanned key events including the Long March, World War II alliances, the founding of the PRC, the Korean War, and the Cultural Revolution. 

Pairing not with law but with perpetrators: Pavlovian response to lynchings in India

By Vikash Narain Rai* Lynch-law owes its name to James Lynch, the legendary Warden of Galway, Ireland, who tried, condemned and executed his own son in 1493 for defrauding and killing strangers. But, today, what kind of a person will justify the lynching for any reason whatsoever? Will perhaps resemble the proverbial ‘wrong man to meet at wrong road at night!’

Delhi Jal Board under fire as CAG finds 55% groundwater unfit for consumption

By A Representative   A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India audit report tabled in the Delhi Legislative Assembly on 7 January 2026 has revealed alarming lapses in the quality and safety of drinking water supplied by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), raising serious public health concerns for residents of the capital.