South Korea has placed fourth in the World Bank’s annual ranking of countries in terms of their ease of doing business.

In the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2016” report released Tuesday, South Korea ranked fourth among 189 economies and selected cities.

Fourth place is one notch higher from the country’s standing in 2014, and the highest ranking ever for South Korea.

Launched in 2002, the annual report looks at small and medium-sized domestic companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle.

In the latest rankings, Singapore topped the list for a second consecutive year, while New Zealand and Denmark came in second and third, respectively.

Hong Kong, which ranked fourth last year, fell to number five, while the United Kingdom jumped two notches to number six. The United States maintained its position at number seven.

South Korea has steadily improved over the years from 19th in 2009 to 7th in 2013 to fifth last year.

By category, South Korea placed first in providing electricity, second in enforcing contracts and fourth in resolving insolvency.

It placed eighth for protecting minority investors, up from 21st last year, and 40th in registering property, which was at 79th place last year.

However, South Korea’s ranking fell in five categories, including starting a business and getting credit.

There is, however, controversy over whether the World Bank report accurately reflects the atmosphere of doing business in the surveyed countries. Critics say the report only takes into account verifiable aspects and disregards the real sentiment those doing business. The criteria for the assessment are also being criticized for being too broad to accurately assess the regulations concerning labor, environment and business.

Still, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance thinks the report is meaningful as it shows how far the country has come in fostering a good environment for foreign businesses. The ministry said it shows that South Korea’s regulatory environment for starting and operating businesses has reached the global level.