The basis for state competitiveness is developed business and entrepreneurship environment. Performance of business activities is essentially affected both by availability of corresponding infrastructure and support, but not less important is the regulatory environment in which the entrepreneur acts. One of the most essential problems identified in the results of researches and inquiries is the time that has to be spent in order to fulfil requirements of regulating bodies, which is an essential factor for impeding of entrepreneurship development.
 

There were 87 434 economically active agents (excluding farms, fisheries and self-employment) in Latvia (2012). 99.54% are in the category of small and medium size enterprises. The distribution within categories is as follows:

Micro-enterprises        85.52%

Small – enterprises      11.66%

Medium-enterprises    2.36%

Large-enterprises         0.46%

An important indicator of business activity within country is the number of economically active agents per every 1000 inhabitants. This level in Latvia has grown from 17 in 2001 to 36 in 2012.