Photo credit; Michael Button

Forbes has declared New Zealand as the second best country for business in 2013. And while that may seem impressive, it actually sees New Zealand drop a place, as it was ranked first in 2012.

The country also achieved the best scores in categories like investor protection, personal freedom and lack of bureaucracy.

Ireland took over top spot in 2013, moving up from sixth place in 2012.

Forbes determines the Best Countries for Business by ranking 145 countries based on 11 different factors like innovation, taxes, technology, corruption,  property rights, red tape, investor protection and stock market performance.

The data used in determining the best and worst countries for business were based on published reports from World Bank, World Economic Forum, Transparency International, Freedom House, Heritage Foundation and Property Rights Alliance.

Other notable rankings New Zealand can boast about are being recently named the least corrupt country in the world by Transparency International and being named the second-most giving country in the world, sharing second spot with Canada and Myanmar based on results of the World Giving Index Survey released last month by Charities Aid Foundation based in the UK.

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