According to the 2013 World Bank Doing Business rankings, St. Kitts and Nevis was rated below other CARICOM member states such as St. Lucia at 53^rd (the top in CARICOM), Puerto Rico, at 41^st (the best in the Caribbean overall), Antigua and Barbuda at 63^rd, Dominica 68^th, Trinidad & Tobago 69^th, St. Vincent & the Grenadines 75^th, Bahamas 77^th, Barbados 88^th, and Jamaica 90^th.

The report, titled, ‘Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations For Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ was released last week and explored the  how business-friendly regulations in each of the territories are, covering areas from starting a business to resolving insolvency.

Belize, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and Suriname trailed behind, with Haiti occupying the lowest ranking in the region at 174th.

This year’s 282-page report covered data measured from June 2011 through May 2012.

This is the second straight year that St. Lucia has topped its fellow CARICOM states. Last year they placed 52^ND.

Worldwide, Singapore topped the rankings for the seventh straight year.