Greece has become the most difficult country for business

Greece took 1st place in the new index Global Business Complexity Index 2026 (GBCI) companies TMF Group as the most difficult jurisdiction in the world to do business.

According to the report TMF Group, Greece For the third year in a row, it remains at the top of the complexity rating for companies. Index rates 81 jurisdictions on factors related to accounting, taxes, corporate governance, labor law, administrative procedures and regulatory burden.

In other words, we are not talking about the fact that Greece It is impossible to run a business at all. The point is different: opening, administering and developing a company here is more difficult than in any other country in the rating. For entrepreneurs, this is not an academic line in a beautiful PDF, but a daily reality: forms, deadlines, platforms, rule changes, fines, reporting and the eternal game of “guess what the state has changed again.”

What the GBCI 2026 rating showed

Global Business Complexity Index annually evaluates how difficult it is for companies to operate in different countries. In the report for 2026 first place means maximum difficulty, and 81st place – least complexity.

IN ten most difficult also entered Mexico, Brazil, France, Türkiye, Colombia, Bolivia, Italy, Argentina And Peru. At the opposite end of the ranking were Curacao, Malta, British Virgin Islands, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Jersey, Denmark And Cayman Islands.

Why Greece is first again

In the report TMF Group states that doing business in Greece remains complex due to frequent legislative changes and ongoing regulatory reforms in key areas: accounting and taxation, legal entity management, HR and payroll.

New requirements are specifically mentioned, including electronic reporting myDATA for accounting and taxes, as well as digital platforms for HR and social procedures. Formally, all this should simplify life. In practice, for business, digitalization often means not less bureaucracy, but the same bureaucracy, only with a password, a login error and a submission deadline before midnight.

The Greek problem has long been no longer reduced to one ministry or one law. This is a whole system: multi-layered regulation, frequent changes in rules, complex tax obligations, audits, reporting, labor legislation and the high cost of error. For a large international company, this means additional costs for lawyers, accountants and consultants. For small businesses, there is a chronic feeling that they are working not only for the sake of customers, but also for the sake of satisfying the next platform.

Digitalization without simplification

Governments in recent years have regularly promised digital transformationreducing bureaucracy and making life easier for entrepreneurs. Some of the processes have indeed become electronic. But the rating GBCI 2026 shows an unpleasant thing: the electronic form in itself does not make the system simple.

If the rules are complex, change frequently and require constant monitoring, then the digital interface only speeds up the entrepreneur’s contact with this complexity. The state receives more data, more control tools and more automated checks. Businesses receive new responsibilities and new risks of fines. Progress, of course. Only for some reason again with a receipt.

This is especially painful for foreign investors. Companies that choose a country to locate their business look at more than just taxes, market and labor costs. They evaluate the predictability of the rules. If it is difficult for a country to understand what requirements will be in place in a year, this becomes a serious disadvantage, even if the economy itself offers opportunities.

What does this mean for the economy?

First place Greece in the difficulty rating is not a symbolic shame for the sake of a beautiful title. This is a practical signal for businesses and investors. The more complex the administrative environment, the more expensive it is to start a company, the higher the cost of complying with the rules, and the more time is spent maintaining the bureaucracy rather than developing it.

For large businesses, this means separate compliance departments and ongoing consultations. For small and medium-sized entrepreneurs – fatigue, additional expenses and fear of mistakes. It is small businesses that most often face the consequences of such a system directly: there is no large legal service, no reserve of time, no budget for endless corrections.

As a result, a country can simultaneously talk about attracting investment and maintain an environment that repels such investment. This is a favorite European genre: writing a growth strategy with one hand, and giving the entrepreneur another list of obligations with the other. And then wonder why people prefer not to open a business, but to look for a way to survive without unnecessary contact with the state.

Editorial comment

Rating GBCI 2026 – This cold shower for all the talk about “reforms” and the “digital state”. Greece He can promise simplification of procedures as much as he wants, but if a country is recognized as the most difficult jurisdiction for doing business for the third year in a row, then the problem is not in the image, but in the design of the system.

The most unpleasant thing here is that complexity has almost become the norm. An entrepreneur in Greece is forced to be not only a seller, manufacturer, employer or investor, but also a constant translator between the tax office, accountant, platforms, laws and the next reform. In such an environment, business does not develop freely – it makes its way through an administrative minefield.

If the government really wants growth, investment and strong small businesses, it needs to start not with another presentation on digitalization, but with a radical simplification of the rules. Electronic bureaucracy still remains bureaucracy. It’s just that now she finds an entrepreneur faster.

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