Starting a business: Time - Men in South Africa
South Africa: Starting a business: Time - Men was 40 days in 2019. ▼ Falling
Starting a business: Time - Men in South Africa, 2003–2019
Source: World Bank. Measured in days.
Analysis
The most recent figure for starting a business: time - men in South Africa is 40 days, measured in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 17 years on record.
The figure is down 11.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, starting a business: time - men in South Africa peaked at 56 days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 40 days, in 2018.
South Africa ranks 19th of 190 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 51.57 days | 45 days | 56 days | 7 |
| 2010s | 44.2 days | 40 days | 46 days | 10 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 16 Palestine, State of 43 days compare
- 17 Honduras 42 days compare
- 18 Papua New Guinea 41 days compare
- 19 Fiji 40 days compare
- 19 Yemen 40 days compare
- 22 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 39.5 days compare
More private sector data for South Africa
- Merchandise trade 57.2% (2025)
- Food imports 7.2% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 62.1% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 128.08 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 12.8% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 38.3% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 116.40 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,798 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2725 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 5.74 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is starting a business: time - men in South Africa?
- Starting a business: time - men in South Africa was 40 days in 2019, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest starting a business: time - men recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 56 days in 2003.
- What is the lowest starting a business: time - men recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 40 days in 2018.
- How does South Africa rank for starting a business: time - men?
- South Africa ranks 19th out of 190 countries with data for 2019.
- Is starting a business: time - men rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Starting a business: Time - Men (days). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The time for men captures the median duration that business incorporation experts indicate is necessary for five male married entrepreneurs to complete all procedures required to start and operate a business with minimum follow-up and no extra payments. It is calulared in calendar days. The time estimates of all procedures are added to calculate the total time required to start and operate a business, taking into account simultaneity of processes. It is assumed that the minimum time required for each procedure is one day, except for procedures that can be fully completed online, for which the time required is recorded as half a day.