U.S. Chamber of Commerce
06/11/2026 | Press release | Archived content
2026 Global Rule of Law and Business Dashboard
Quick Takeaways
- The rule of law has declined globally. The 6th Edition Dashboard shows exactly where it has declined and where there are opportunities for improvement.
- The 6th Edition Dashboard measures 149 markets globally - the most expansive coverage to date.
More on the Rule of Law Coalition
The U.S. Chamber's Global Rule of Law and Business Dashboard 2026 equips businesses with a clear, comparative view of rule of law conditions, supported by a strengthened, evidence-based methodology that enhances how firms assess operating environments and inform strategic decisions across markets.
The 6th Edition Dashboard evaluates rule of law pillars (transparency, predictability, stability, accountability, and due process) across the 149 economies. The data delivers a comprehensive business-focused assessment to date of how rule of law conditions shape commercial risk, opportunity, and predictability across global markets.
The Dashboard also serves as a resource for world leaders seeking to strengthen rule of law, reduce barriers to business, and create the conditions for sustainable economic growth. With this data, they can identify what's working, what's not, and what changes are needed to build more competitive and accountable markets.
A visual overview
Top 4 findings for 2026
Global rule of law conditions for business remain deeply uneven and increasingly strained. A gap of more than 70 points separates the top and bottom-performing countries, creating fundamentally different operating environments and risk profiles across markets. Even among advanced OECD economies, due process varies significantly-by 30 to 40 points-introducing uncertainty in dispute resolution despite generally strong transparency.
Critically, predictability emerges as the strongest link to economic development, with accountability and due process forming a core foundation for stable business environments; however, income level alone is not a reliable indicator of risk. At the same time, global conditions are deteriorating: 56.1% of countries have seen declines since 2021, driven largely by weakening access to justice and enforcement of judgments. Together, these trends highlight widening disparities, hidden risks in otherwise strong markets, and the growing importance of targeted reforms to sustain business confidence.
- Global rule of law conditions for business differ by an order of magnitude across markets, creating fundamentally different operating environments.
- These gaps directly affect compliance, contract reliability, and investment decisions, while variation across pillars means even strong markets can carry hidden operational risks.
- Benchmarking countries against regional and income peers reveals both structural constraints and policy-driven differences, helping businesses identify relative risks and advantages and make more meaningful comparisons across similar operating environments.
- Transparency is a shared strength among advanced economies, but uneven due process creates uncertainty even in otherwise strong markets.
- Access to justice and enforcement of judgments vary widely, shaping business costs, timelines, and confidence in dispute resolution.
- Rule of law and economic development are closely linked-but income alone is an incomplete guide to business risk.
- Due process outcomes vary widely across income levels, revealing both hidden risks in advanced economies and reform-driven opportunities elsewhere.
- Predictability, accountability, and due process form a core cluster of mutually reinforcing conditions that underpin reliable business environments.
- Strong overall scores can mask distinct vulnerabilities, while pillar-level analysis reveals where targeted reforms can unlock opportunity
- Rule of law conditions affecting businesses have weakened globally over the past five years, driven by sharp declines in dispute resolution and enforcement.
- Deterioration in access to justice and the enforcement of judgments continues, despite selective gains in transparency-related areas.
2026 Dashboard Findings
Global rankings of 149 economies
2026 Rule of Law and Business Dashboard Report
2026 Rule of Law and Business Dashboard Appendix
U.S. Chamber of Commerce published this content on June 11, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 22, 2026 at 19:28 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]