MKD · snapshot 2026-08-09
North Macedonia
MediumOverall risk score
39.9
Percentile of scored universe
40th
Data coverage
100%
vs Australia (16.1)
+23.8
Category breakdown
Political Stability & Governance
Medium6 indicators · 100% coverage
Economic Resilience
Medium7 indicators · 100% coverage
Financial & Currency Risk
High5 indicators · 100% coverage
Business Environment
High4 indicators · 100% coverage
Security & Crime
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Climate & Social Compliance
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Technology & Digital
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Cultural Distance
Insufficient dataInsufficient data · not in overall score
Key risks and considerations
North Macedonia rates Medium for market entry — an overall risk score of 39.9, less risky than 60% of rated economies and 24 points riskier than Australia.
The main risk drivers are no double-tax agreement with Australia, no investment-treaty protection with Australia and high modern-slavery prevalence (12.6 per 1,000).
Relative strengths: inflation, DFAT smartraveller advisory level, currency stability all rate Low, the least-risky rating band.
Possible mitigations
- Withholding tax. No double-tax agreement with Australia: model withholding tax on dividends, interest, and royalties into the business case — it can decide the entity-vs-export question.
- No treaty recourse. No investment-treaty protection with Australia: consider political-risk insurance for expropriation and transfer risk, since treaty arbitration won't be available.
- Modern slavery compliance. Elevated modern-slavery risk: apply enhanced supply-chain due diligence and document it — Australian Modern Slavery Act reporting will expect exactly this analysis.
Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.
Indicators
| Indicator | Value | Risk score | Rating | Australia | Data source year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Stability & Governance | ||||||
| Voice & accountability (WGI) | 58.1 | 45.6 | Medium | |||
| Government effectiveness (WGI) | 50.7 | 50.5 | High | |||
| Regulatory quality (WGI) | 59.1 | 36.3 | Medium | |||
| Rule of law (WGI) | 53.1 | 54.3 | High | |||
| Control of corruption (WGI) | 41.2 | 56.8 | High | |||
| Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV) | 68.6 | 46.1 | Medium | |||
| Economic Resilience | ||||||
| GDP growth (3-yr average, %) | 3.0% (3-yr avg) | 45.0 | Medium | |||
| Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp) | ±2.6 pp | 30.0 | Medium | |||
| Government net debt (% of GDP) | 51.4 | 60.0 | High | |||
| Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target) | 4.1 | 10.0 | Low | |||
| Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP) | -2.0% (3-yr avg) | 15.0 | Low | |||
| FX reserves (months of import cover) | 4.6 months | 30.0 | Medium | |||
| GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $) | $28,029 | 43.0 | Medium | |||
| Financial & Currency Risk | ||||||
| Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN) | 0.45 | 60.0 | High | |||
| Currency stability (regime-aware classification) | Pegged — credible (reserve-backed, low inflation gap) | 12.0 | Low | |||
| Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification) | Category 5 / 7 | 64.0 | High | |||
| FATF listing (grey / black list status) | Not listed | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Double-tax agreement with Australia | None in force | 100.0 | Very High | |||
| Business Environment | ||||||
| FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI) | 0.04 | 44.5 | Medium | |||
| Logistics performance (World Bank LPI) | 3.1 | 41.3 | Medium | |||
| Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average) | 66.4 | 27.6 | Medium | |||
| Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter) | None in force | 100.0 | Very High | |||
| Security & Crime | ||||||
| Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr) | 0.0 | 29.7 | Medium | |||
| Intentional homicide rate (per 100k) | 1.5 | 39.7 | Medium | |||
| Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score) | 5.0 | 47.1 | Medium | |||
| DFAT Smartraveller advisory level | Level 1 — Exercise normal safety precautions | 10.0 | Low | |||
| Climate & Social Compliance | ||||||
| Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability) | 0.410 | 34.5 | Medium | |||
| Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index) | 2.8 | 30.9 | Medium | |||
| Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000) | 12.6 | 92.8 | Very High | |||
| Modern-slavery vulnerability score | 38.1 | 31.6 | Medium | |||
| Technology & Digital | ||||||
| E-government development (UN EGDI) | 0.7 | 43.3 | Medium | |||
| Internet users (% of population) | 93.1 | 21.2 | Low | |||
| Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index) | 0.0 | 10.0 | Low | |||
| Secure internet servers (per million people) | 2068.1 | 41.2 | Medium | |||
Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.
Cultural distance
GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score
Context — not scored
Unemployment
12.3%
Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)
Trade agreement
No Australian FTA in force
Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.
Regional advisories
No higher regional advisory levels
DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.
Compare with
A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to North Macedonia in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.