Image copyright AFP Image caption Singapore has once again topped a ranking of the best places to do business in the world

Wealthy city-state Singapore has once again topped a ranking of the best places in the world to do business.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Singapore as number one out of 82 countries for its "efficient [and] open economy".

The tiny Asian island nation has been at the top of the rankings for seven consecutive years.

Other countries ranked in the top five included Switzerland, Australia, Hong Kong and Sweden respectively.

The rankings were based on the attractiveness of a country's business environment by looking criteria such as political climate, openness to foreign investment, taxes, the labour market and infrastructure.

Last month, Singapore also topped the World Bank's ease of doing business report, which looked at 189 countries.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A look at the EIU's annual ranking of the best places in the world to do business.

Europe's woes

The UK, meanwhile, inched one place higher to 21st below Malaysia, Austria and France on the annual index.

"The impact of the debt crisis on political stability, economic stability and financing availability has meant that EU countries remain some way off the top," said the EIU report.

However, other northern Europe countries of Denmark and Finland did make it into the top 10, placing eighth and 10th respectively on as they "continue to provide a stable environment to do business".

BRIC countries scored poorly on this year's rankings with China in 50th place and Russia in 64th. Brazil and India were placed 47th and 48th respectively.

Ranked last out of the 82 countries ranked was troubled African nation Libya.