Bloomberg, the financial media outlet, has published its ranking of the best countries for doing business in 2013 and has put the Netherlands at number four on the list, the highest European entry.

The rankings are based on data from 11 sources and a total of 161 nations were ranked on criteria ranging from the cost of starting a business, the cost of labour and materials to the "readiness" of its consumer base to participate in economic activity.

The Netherlands scored highly on the criteria of transport cost and "Less Tangible Costs", which includes a consideration of the corruption perception index, international property rights index, inflation, taxes and accounting adaptability. The lowest score was recorded under the "Business Startup Cost" criteria.

While Hong Kong took the number one spot, followed by the United States and Japan, the Netherlands sits one place above their eastern neighbours Germany and six spots above the United Kingdom in 10th.

In last years' poll the Netherlands was ranked second, above the United States and below Hong Kong, but the most recent ranking will come as a welcome addition to the country's position as the 8th most prosperous country in the world.

Source: Bloomberg