Starting a business: Time - Women in South Africa
South Africa: Starting a business: Time - Women was 40 days in 2019. ▼ Falling
Starting a business: Time - Women in South Africa, 2003–2019
Source: World Bank. Measured in days.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 40 days for starting a business: time - women in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 17 years on record.
That represents a change of down 11.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, starting a business: time - women in South Africa peaked at 56 days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 40 days, in 2018.
That places South Africa 20th out of 191 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.
Starting a business: Time - Women in South Africa, year by year
| Year | days | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 56 days | — |
| 2004 | 56 days | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 53 days | -5.4% |
| 2006 | 53 days | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 53 days | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 45 days | -15.1% |
| 2009 | 45 days | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 45 days | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 45 days | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 45 days | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 45 days | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 46 days | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 46 days | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 45 days | -2.2% |
| 2017 | 45 days | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 40 days | -11.1% |
| 2019 | 40 days | +0.0% |
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
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 - women in South Africa?
- Starting a business: time - women in South Africa was 40 days in 2019, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest starting a business: time - women recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 56 days in 2003.
- What is the lowest starting a business: time - women recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 40 days in 2018.
- How does South Africa rank for starting a business: time - women?
- South Africa ranks 20th out of 191 countries with data for 2019.
- Is starting a business: time - women 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 - Women (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 women captures the median duration that business incorporation experts indicate is necessary for five female 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.