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Business Complexity: Mexico 3rd-Worst Worldwide
Four Latin America countries among world’s most complex.
BY LATINVEX STAFF
Mexico and Brazil have seen a deterioration in business complexity, while the Dominican Republic continues its dramatic improvement, according to the 2025 Global Business Complexity Index from the TMF Group.
Meanwhile, apart from Mexico and Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia are ranked among the ten most complex jurisdictions in the world.
The Global Business Complexity Index is based on 292 indicators relating to business complexity and provides in-depth analysis of global and local challenges impacting on the ease of doing business around the world. These data points are used to compile a global ranking of the 79 jurisdictions, based on the complexity of their business environments and covering legislation, compliance, accounting procedures, tax regimes, human resources (HR) rules and payroll processes.
MEXICO
“Mexico ranks 3rd in this year’s GBCI, up from 4th place in 2024, remaining an inherently complex jurisdiction due to its stringent rules and regulations,” TMF says.
Despite recent changes in US trade policies under the Trump administration, nearshoring remains a key strategy, with Mexico positioning itself as a gateway to the USA and Latin America. Extensive trade agreements offer significant advantages for foreign investors. However, the long-term implications of these trade policy changes, and potential retaliatory actions remain unclear.
“The recent judicial system overhaul, aimed at creating a transparent and accountable structure, has had mixed reactions,” TMF says.
| Most Complex Countries | ||||
| Ranked by worst to best. | ||||
| LRK=Latin America rank. GRK=Global rank. | ||||
| LRK | GRK | Ch | Country | |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | Mexico | |
| 2 | 5 | -2 | Colombia | |
| 3 | 6 | 1 | Brazil | |
| 4 | 8 | -3 | Bolivia | |
| 5 | 11 | 1 | Argentina | |
| 6 | 12 | 1 | Paraguay | |
| 7 | 13 | -4 | Peru | |
| 8 | 20 | 1 | Chile | |
| 9 | 22 | Venezuela | ||
| 10 | 27 | -1 | Uruguay | |
| 11 | 30 | Ecuador | ||
| 12 | 42 | -3 | Panama | |
| 13 | 45 | -1 | Guatemala | |
| 14 | 46 | 4 | El Salvador | |
| 15 | 50 | 7 | Nicaragua | |
| 16 | 53 | -7 | Dom Rep | |
| 17 | 58 | -7 | Costa Rica | |
| 18 | 66 | -6 | Honduras | |
| Sources: Global Business Complexity Index 2025, | ||||
| TMF Group; Latinvex (LatAm ranking) | ||||
BRAZIL
Brazil has moved from 7th to 6th in this year’s GBCI ranking, in large part due to accounting and tax issues, TMF says.
“Similar to 2024, A&T complexities remain the primary drivers of operational challenges,” it says. “The integration of tax systems with accounting standards like IFRS or US GAAP adds significant complexity, especially with ongoing tax reform discussions in Brazil.”
Brazil is seeing increased technology adoption, significantly enhancing transaction monitoring and compliance through electronic reporting systems.
“This shift has facilitated real-time oversight but introduced additional layers of complexity and risk management for businesses,” TMF warns.
COLOMBIA
Colombia moves from 3rd to 5th in this year’s ranking.
“The business environment remains complex due to political instability and entrenched bureaucracy,” TMF says. “Bureaucracy and red tape complicate business operations, with many procedures still requiring wet ink signatures. The past year has also seen multiple legislative changes, such as tax, labor, and pension reforms.”
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Dominican Republic continues to improve significantly. In this year’s index, the Caribbean country ranks 53, down from 46 last year and 18 in 2023.
Only Costa Rica made as much improvement from last year.
Meanwhile, Nicaragua and El Salvador saw the worst deterioration in Latin America, moving up seven and four places on the ranking, respectively.
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