When it comes to overseas business expansions, the US is the leading global destination. (Photo by Michael M Santiago/Getty Images)

The US, Singapore, Ireland, Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden and Hong Kong rank as the top ten countries in the world for global enterprise expansion, according a study by HR and payroll company Remote.

Rounding out the top 20 are South Korea, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, France, Chile, Bahrain, the UK, Spain and Taiwan.

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To identify the top locations, Remote analysed the world’s largest business hubs and created a global expansion index. The expansion metrics used for this index include GDP growth rate, the number of start-ups in the country, the corporate tax rate, tax payments, access to the internet, the time required to start a business, property registration, labour productivity, the cost to start a business and the enforcement of contracts (in relation to the number of days taken to resolve a commercial dispute).

The US ranks as the top country for global enterprise expansion. Key factors behind this ranking are it having the highest number of start-ups out of all the countries analysed, one of the shortest times required to start a business and the country's reasonable costs to start a business.

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Singapore also hosts a large number of start-ups, a factor behind its second place in the index, while Ireland has the highest annual economic growth rate of all countries in the top 20 (13.5%), as well as one of the lowest tax rates and a very low cost of starting up a business.

Countries whose performance in the ranking was stymied by their high business start-up costs include the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Qatar, Lebanon and Austria.

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Expanding overseas remains a key area for companies looking to grow their businesses, with research from consultancy PwC showing that nearly half of company chief financial officers are in the process of expanding their business to overseas markets, or are planning to do so soon.