In this article, we take a look at the 25 best countries to headquarter a corporation. You can skip our detailed analysis of the role of a corporate center and go directly to 10 Best Countries to Headquarter a Corporation.
In general, companies’ headquarters are located in the same city and country where they were founded. However, companies can move their headquarters to large cities in developed business-friendly countries, due to the availability of talent, quicker access to suppliers, strong financial infrastructure and tax friendliness.
These are universal motivations, but ones which are counterintuitively not very well-reflected in the real world and that is because corporations account for a lot of situational factors like tariff avoidance and transportation costs when it comes to having their headquarters in a particular country.
Corporations have also increasingly divided functions like legal and fiscal across different countries for business optimization and may choose different locations for their incorporation and headquarters.
For instance, 67% of the Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware and 93% of all 2021 IPOs in the US chose Delaware for their incorporation because of its well-regarded General Corporation Law and Court of Chancery.
Furthermore, a good number of corporations like Fiat and LyondellBasell prefer the Netherlands for the flexibility of its corporate law and the UK for its low corporate tax rate of 19%.
However, when it comes to headquartering a company, certain locations are more popular than others. Texas has become a destination of choice for multinational companies, due to lower than US-average taxes and cost of doing business. As of 2022, it has the highest number of Fortune 500 companies’ headquarters than other US states.
Still, in a globalized and digitalized world, whether or not headquarters matter is open to debate. As we’ve mentioned already, companies already divide legal and fiscal matters across different countries where they may or may not be headquartered in.
Talent pool, on the other hand, can be outsourced from around the world, and a substantial amount of work can be done remotely via digital services and online connectivity.
McKinsey expects remote work to increase by four to five times than pre-pandemic figures and expects a decline of 20% in business travel due to the trend of virtual meetings that was observed during the pandemic, which is expected to endure in some capacity.
Regardless, it is better to headquarter a company in a country which meets all its requirements. In this respect, we’ve listed the 25 best countries to headquarter a corporation.
We have defined ‘best countries to headquarter a corporation’ as advanced countries that have low corporate tax rates, highly educated, skilled and talented workforce, strong corporate law, high business openness, visa liberalization and are connected to the broader world.
We find that the rankings of US News and CEO World on the same have been based on the opinion of corporate heads and experts, and satisfy our definition of these countries and so we averaged out the countries’ ranking on the two sources and ranked the countries in ascending order of companies’ headquarters-friendliness.
For countries with the same averaged-out rankings, we’ve used their position on the CEO World index as the tiebreaker.
Note: Taiwan did not make it to the US News list. However, it is one of the top destinations for companies to move their headquarters to. Therefore, we’ve ranked it solely on the basis of its position on the CEO World list.
Here are the 25 best countries to headquarter a corporation:
25. Ireland
CEO World Ranking: 30
US News Ranking: 20
Average Ranking: 25
Major US tech corporations like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have their European headquarters in Ireland.
Ireland is also essentially a tax haven, with one of the lowest corporate tax rates in all of Europe, at only 12.5%. A low corporate tax rate, coupled with an educated and skilled workforce, global connectivity and strong corporate law make it one of the ideal places in Europe to headquarter a company.
24. South Korea
CEO World Ranking: 25
US News Ranking: 23
Average Ranking: 24
South Korea is one of the most advanced countries in East Asia, and is home to several major Korean companies’ headquarters like Samsung, Hyundai, LG Corporation and KIA. Further, South Korea ranks fifth on the World Bank’s ease of doing business index and has a highly competitive workforce, especially when it comes to electronics.
23. Portugal
CEO World Ranking: 24
US News Ranking: 24
Average Ranking: 24
Portugal has a low corporate tax rate of 21%. In addition, the country’s workforce is highly educated and skilled, with lower wages than the EU average.
22. Spain
CEO World Ranking: 22
US News Ranking: 22
Average Ranking: 22
Spain ranks 18th on the aggregate Logistics Performance Index, indicating strong infrastructure. Moreover, Spain has a skilled labor force, with wages that are lower than EU average.
21. Taiwan
CEO World Ranking: 21
Taiwan is the go-to destination for companies which are primarily focused on manufacturing semiconductors because of the infrastructure and technical expertise. Moreover, the government is focused on implementing business-friendly policies, with Taiwan having a low corporate tax rate of 20%.
The wages in the country are two to three times lower than in other advanced economies, especially relative to the education and skill of its workforce.
20. Belgium
CEO World Ranking: 26
US News Ranking: 15
Average Ranking: 20.5
Belgium is considered the gateway to the 500 million European customers within a radius of 500 miles, significantly reducing transportation costs for companies whose target customer-base is primarily European. Further, the country has no trade restriction and it ranks fourth on the aggregate logistics performance index, signifying sophisticated infrastructure.
19. Italy
CEO World Ranking: 18
US News Ranking: 21
Average Ranking: 19.5
Italy has a strategic location with easy access to European, Middle Eastern and North African markets. The location, coupled with a skilled workforce, makes Italy one of the best countries to headquarter a corporation.
18. Singapore
CEO World Ranking: 14
US News Ranking: 17
Average Ranking: 15.5
Singapore is the country of choice for most major corporations like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) for their Asia Pacific headquarters.
It is because Singapore has a highly educated and skilled labor supply, as well as the third lowest marginal corporate tax rate in the world, with effective tax rate being even lower. Further, Singapore provides easy access to the Asia Pacific market.
17. France
CEO World Ranking: 19
US News Ranking: 11
Average Ranking: 15
France is one of the best countries to headquarter a corporation, due to a friendly regulatory framework for business, a skilled workforce and one of the largest domestic markets in Europe.
16. Finland
CEO World Ranking: 16
US News Ranking: 14
Average Ranking: 15
Finland has strong infrastructure, with the country ranking 12th on the aggregate LPI index, a friendly business environment and skilled workforce.
15. United States
CEO World Ranking: 12
US News Ranking: 18
Average Ranking: 15
The US is one of the best countries to headquarter a corporation. It has a huge domestic market, 14 trade agreements with 20 countries and its workforce is known for technical expertise. Moreover, Delaware is a popular destination for global companies to get incorporated, due to the reputation of its corporation law and chancery court, as already mentioned.
The US has the highest numbers of corporate headquarters in the world, but that is because the country has the highest number of native companies in the world. That said, the US ranks behind some countries on the list in a number of factors like infrastructure, regulatory efficiency and corporate taxation.
14. Austria
CEO World Ranking: 13
US News Ranking: 16
Average Ranking: 14.5
Austria has no nationally mandated minimum-wage policy in force like some other countries on the list of best countries for corporate headquarters. Further, companies in Austria are entitled to a 14% R&D bonus from the government.
13. Norway
CEO World Ranking: 15
US News Ranking: 10
Average Ranking: 12.5
Norway is one of the best countries to headquarter a company, due to its highly skilled workforce, top-notch infrastructure, lax business policies and access to markets in the EU through the European Economic Area.
12. United Arab Emirates
CEO World Ranking: 6
US News Ranking: 19
Average Ranking: 12.5
The United Arab Emirates is the go-to country for global corporations for their headquarters in the Middle East. Major corporations like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are all headquartered in the UAE for their Middle Eastern operations.
The UAE actively implements business-friendly policies and has a talented expat community from all around the world. Further, it has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world, at 9%.
11. Japan
CEO World Ranking: 17
US News Ranking: 7
Average Ranking: 12
Japan is well positioned for access to the fastest growing economies in Asia, like countries in Southeast Asia. Japan also has a strong corporate legal framework to protect property rights and enforce contracts. The population is also one of the highly educated and skilled in the world.
