Global ethical business report

In 2024, whilst the current economic climate impacts businesses, market reports still reveal organisations are shifting towards operating more sustainably with an ever increasing focus on business ethics long term. In 2022 alone, the number of registered B Corp companies in Europe increased by 63%. From the United Kingdom to France and Germany, the shift towards an increased focus on business ethics is prevalent across the globe, but which countries have the most ethical business practices overall?

Using B Lab data, Weightmans has identified the countries with the most B Corp-recognised businesses. As well as the countries with the most businesses featured on the world's most ethical companies ranking. For organisations that are looking to improve their approach to business ethics, we’ve also provided some expert advice and tips on how to do this.

The countries with the most B Corp organisations

Many organisations are now focusing more on their approach to business ethics and holding themselves to higher standards, but which countries are home to the most B Corp-recognised organisations?

Below is a list of the countries with the most B Corp businesses.

1. United States — 2,936

Taking the title as the country with the most B Corp organisations is the United States, with 2,936 organisations, nearly triple that of France. Due to the size of the United States economy and the number of organisations in the country, this may not come as a surprise, however, maintaining a B Corp status isn’t easy which suggests business ethics are an important focus in this region.

2. United Kingdom — 2,484

The country with the second highest number of B Corp registered organisations is the United Kingdom, with a total of 2,484. Compared to the United States the UK is significantly smaller (in size and population), but the UK does have an advanced approach to sustainability regulation and policy. Many were concerned about the impact of Brexit on the UK private sector's sustainability journey and trajectory. Still, it seems businesses are as keen as ever to improve their approach to business ethics, recognising the value this can bring across all of their stakeholders.

3. France — 995

France completes our top three with 995 registered B Corp organisations. France isn’t far ahead of countries such as Canada and Australia with 943 and 891 B Corp registered businesses respectively. It will be interesting to revisit these figures in the future to identify what impact the developing EU sustainability regulatory framework will have on businesses using governance structures such as those required for B corp purposes to achieve regulatory compliance. 

The countries with the fewest B Corp organisations

We’ve also revealed the countries with the least amount of registered B Corporations.

1. Columbia & Slovak Republic — 0

Taking the top spot with 0 registered B Corp organisations are Columbia and the Slovak Republic. In Columbia, there are only 90,000 registered SMEs compared to a huge 5.6M across the UK, highlighting the stark difference in the business landscape across these regions.

2. Latvia — 68

In second place, the country with the least amount of registered B Corp companies is Latvia, with 68 B Corp registered organisations. Latvia has over 140,705 registered businesses in total.

3. Lithuania — 76

Completing the bottom three is Lithuania, with only 76 registered B Corp organisations. Lithuania has over 194,765 registered businesses in total.

The lower end of the league table would seem to reflect the limited value placed on ethical business practices, at least from an external governance perspective in these jurisdictions, alongside an opportunity for some businesses to use an ethical and sustainable platform to differentiate themselves from their competitors. 

The countries with the highest number of organisations on the World’s Most Ethical Companies ranking

The world's most ethical businesses are ranked on governance, third-party management, culture of ethics, environmental and social impact and ethics and compliance. 

We’ve analysed the number of businesses that are featured on the world's most ethical companies list for each country in our research.

1. United States — 79

The US takes the top spot again with 79 businesses featured on the world's most ethical companies list. However, due to the population size of the US and the sheer number of businesses, this isn’t unexpected. 

2. Canada & Ireland — 5

Whilst Canada and Ireland didn’t feature in the top three countries with the most B Corp organisations, they’ve made the top three here with 5 organisations featured on the world’s most ethical business rankings. 

3. France, Japan & Switzerland — 2

To complete our top three are the countries France, Japan and Switzerland, all with two companies featured on the world’s most ethical companies list.

How ethical are UK organisations?

Our report reveals UK organisations are amongst some of the most ethical in the world, with 2,484 UK businesses registered as B Corp, only 16.7% less than the United States which has 2,936 registered B Corporations.

Although the UK doesn’t have any businesses featured on the world's most ethical companies ranking, only six countries have above one company featured.

Across the UK searches for ‘most sustainable businesses’ have increased 87% in the last year (2023 – 24), with a YouGov survey stating six in ten Brits (62%) like it when companies have a moral message, revealing that UK companies need to keep ethics and sustainability front of mind to keep up with consumer standards.

This is just one indication of the importance of sustainability factors in consumers purchasing decisions. It is no surprise that businesses are keen to have a clear ethical and sustainability message. It also brings into focus the dangers of greenwashing and the rapid pace at which regulators are moving to regulate and oversee the green claims space. 

5 ways organisations can become more ethical

For businesses to establish a continued focus on high ethical standards they must ensure environmental, social and governance factors are considered and implemented throughout their organisation, as well as their supply chains. Here are five ways organisations can practice better business ethics:

1. Create a set of company values — All organisations will have a different set of company values and therefore when organisations consider their own ethical and sustainability values these should, to an extent be unique. That said they will more than likely focus on specific risks shared with other organisations e.g. net zero, diversity and inclusion, etc. Materiality assessments are a good way to identify a representative set of values — the assessments often involve consulting stakeholders to seek their views, using a framework such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals to frame the process. 
2. Build a strong and diverse network — To help live and implement the values an organisation must build a resilient and diverse network both within and outside the organisation. 
3. Build a sustainability plan — Once you’ve built the foundations of your plan it’s crucial to look more closely at the different elements of sustainability: environmental, social, and governance. An organisation should break their goals down into the ESG categories, which will make it easier to find actionable ways to embed and deliver its values. 
4. Provide training to employees — Once senior members of a company have a clear plan and sustainability strategy in place they must find ways to implement this throughout the whole business and ensure all team members are on board. To do so, training and learning sessions are necessary. Often boards and SLTs need training and development at the very outset to ensure they can create a meaningful plan for their business.  
5. Measure success — Finally, when building out a plan and sustainability strategy there need to be key performance indicators that align with the company goals so success can be measured. For example, sustainability goals such as decreasing the amount of energy used in an office space, or achieving a B Corp status. 

Simon Colvin ESG Lead at Weightmans commented:

“In 2024, considering the ethics and sustainability of an organisation has never been more important. Whilst a business must consider its own needs, building out a strong ethical and sustainability plan allows an organisation to work towards certain goals and have a clear direction that it can then use and share with its supply chain partners. 

As our research shows the UK has over 2,400 B Corp registered companies, which highlights how prevalent sustainability is across the country and the need for organisations to keep ethics and sustainability front of mind.”

Methodology

We used a list of OEDC countries to initiate our research. 

Using official B Corp data we calculated the number of B Corp companies in each country.

Using the official world’s most ethical countries ranking we calculated the number of companies that featured for each country.

All data is correct as of 20.02.2024.