Comparison of High risk jurisdictions in 2024

High risk jurisdictions Iran Ukraine Afghanistan Iraq Libya
Our ranking in order of preference 1 2 3 4 5
Summary at a Glance
Total year 1 engagement costs? €26,140 US$10,900 US$30,650 US$31,925 US$20,370
Total year 2 costs (incl. audit and tax)? €7,990 US$4,750 US$11,150 US$15,450 US$8,150
Our Client must travel during the engagement? No No No No No
Total engagement period? 6 months 4 months 5 months 9 months 7 months
Corporation tax rate on net profits (click link)? 25% 18% 20% 15% 20%
Average monthly labor salary? US$320 US$189 US$60 US$300 US$500
Average monthly office rental per sq m? US$20 US$27 US$10 US$16 US$35
Average monthly warehouse rental per sq m? US$5 US$5 US$1 US$3 US$3
National resident shareholder required? No No No No No
English language proficiency % of population? 1% 2% 8% 35% 10%
Incorporation requirements
How long to secure company registration number? 2 months 1 month 2 months 4 months 3 months
Minimum number of shareholders? 2 1 1 1 2
Individual and corporate shareholders allowed? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Minimum number of directors? 1 1 1 1 1
Resident director (click link) required? No Yes No No No
Minimum paid up share capital? €1 1 US$1 US$1 US$3.7m
Fast turnkey solution available (click link)? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fastest time Healy Consultants set up company? 2 months 1 month 2 months 4 months 3 months
Office premises required before registration? No No Yes Yes Yes
Virtual office address will suffice? Yes Yes No No No
Special permit or license required? No No Yes No Yes
Shareholders & directors security check? Yes No No Yes No
Corporate director(s) allowed? No No No No No
Can be wholly foreign owned? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Company registration process is? Difficult Complex Relatively easy Complex Complex
Company documents in English? No Yes Yes Yes No
Must translate shareholders and directors docs? Yes No No No Yes
Efficiency of Government co registration office? Poor Medium Medium Poor Poor
Government incorporation fees payable? €40 US$50 US$2,000 US$3,500 US$6,100
Public register of shareholders & directors? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tax and accounting considerations
Corporate tax (%) payable (click link)? 25 18 20 15 20
GST or VAT (%) payable (click link)? 10 20 0 0 0
Average customs duty (%) on imports? 10 5 5 10 5
Average withholding tax (%) on dividend distributions? 0 15 20 0 0
Annual financial statements required? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Statutory independent annual audit required? Yes No No Yes Yes
Monthly accounting and tax reporting required? No Yes No No No
Access to how many double tax treaties? 42 67 7 21 10
Number of tax exempt free zones available? 0 0 0 3 1
Corporate bank account considerations
Healy Consultants’ preferred bank? Bank Melli Iran Unicredit Bank AIB Ziraat Bank LFB
How long to open corporate bank account? 5 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks 5 weeks
Do I travel to open the bank account? No No No No No
Can open a US$ or € bank account? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Must have a resident bank signatory? No Yes No No Yes
Corporate ATM cards available? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Good internet banking available? No Yes No No No
Funds transfer currency controls No Yes No Yes Yes
Bank rating by World Economic Forum? 125 138 N/A N/A 142
Ease of getting credit by WEF? score (1-7) 1.6 2.6 N/A N/A 1.5
Political / Economic Considerations
Any existing economic sanctions? Yes No No No Yes
Country in a state of war? No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Existing stable Government? Yes No No No No
2014 Global Terrorism Index ranking (1 – worst)? 28 51 2 1 15
Foreign employee safety? High Medium Low Low Low
Volatility of the currency? High Low High High Low
Annual stock market growth (%)? -14 -30 None None None
Fitch country rating (click link) B+ RD None B- None
Estimated Real GDP (%) growth (click link)? 2 2 5 6 15
Employment considerations
Average skilled labor salary? US$480 US$284 US$90 US$450 US$750
Average unskilled labor salary? US$260 US$151 US$50 US$240 US$400
Average pension/insurance benefits (%) of salary? 23 4 0 17 15
Minimum monthly national salary? US$215 US$57 US$78 US$214 US$328
Mandatory labor unions? No No No No No
Minimum notice to dismiss employees? 0 2 months 1 month 0 1 month
Minimum redundancy indemnity? 1 month 1 month 2 months 0 2 weeks
Quotas on foreign workers? No Yes No No Yes
How long to get work permit approved? 4 months 3 months 4 months 4 months 5 months
Other considerations
Rank for getting electricity (click link) 107 185 141 36 65
Ranking for transport infrastructure (click link) (1-7 best) 3.4 3.2 N/A N/A 2.1
Ranking for customs procedures out of 7 (click link)? 3.3 3.3 N/A N/A 2.6
Literacy % of population (click link)? 87 99 38 80 91
Computer literacy (%) of population? 57 42 1 9 22
Internet connectivity rating? Satisfactory Satisfactory Poor Poor Poor
Global business efficiency index (click link)? 83 76 N/A N/A 126
Local purchasing power (GDP per capita) 5315 3083 659 6334 6570
Local market size (in millions of people) 78 45 31 35 6
Average annual inflation rate (%) in 2014? 17 12 5 2 5
Average unemployment rate (%) in 2014? 11 9 N/A 16 N/A
Most common industry in the country? Oil & Gas Metalwork Textiles Oil & Gas Oil & Gas
Ease of doing business index (click link) 130 96 183 156 188

Contact us

For additional information on our incorporation services, please contact our in-house country expert, Ms. Chrissi Zamora, directly:
client relationship officer - Chrissi