South Korea moved up to fourth place in this year's business environment survey, thanks to high scores in legal settlements and electricity supply, a report by the World Bank showed Tuesday.

According to the organization's "Doing Business 2018" report, which is based on an annual survey, the country's ranking represents a one-notch gain from its standing a year earlier.

For this year, the World Bank analyzed 190 countries' business environments by breaking them down into 10 broad categories in accordance with the business life cycle from start to closure.

The report checked legal and administrative rules and practices, as well as feedback from experts and businessmen in related fields, and is designed to provide best practice benchmarks for developing countries.

In terms of legal settlements, South Korea placed first for the second straight year, outperforming the other 189 countries in the world, while it was runner up in terms of electricity supply.

In the field of dealing with insolvency, South Korea remained in fifth, and its standing for the environment for starting a business rose to ninth.

On the other hand, six other sectors received grades outside the top 10.

The country stood at 28th place in dealing with construction permits and 33rd in terms of getting credit and administrative procedures on cross-border trading. In the corporate financing section, Asia's fourth-largest economy placed a low 55th place.

Meanwhile, New Zealand was top for providing the best overall business environment, followed by Singapore and Denmark. Hong Kong finished fifth this year, with the United States, Britain, Norway, Georgia and Sweden making up the rest of the top 10 roster. (Yonhap)