Competitive Alternatives

KPMG's Guide to International Business Location Costs

Competitive Alternatives is KPMG’s guide to comparing international business locations in mature and high growth markets.

2012 Edition

The 2012 study is the most thorough comparison of international business locations ever undertaken by KPMG, and contains valuable information for any company locating international business operations. New in 2012 is the addition of the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—to the study.

Competitive Alternatives 2012 is an expansion and update of previous KPMG publications, and measures the combined impact of 26 significant business cost components that are most likely to vary by location. The study also compares data on a variety of non-cost competitiveness factors. The study examines 19 industry operations in 14 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Competitive Alternatives contains a wealth of information on international business locations and costs. To get started, you can:

• Watch a brief slide show to get an overview of Competitive Alternatives 2012
• Head to the Highlights section of this site to read the key study findings
• Or go to the Downloads page to access detailed study summaries and reports.

Special Report: Focus on Tax

In addition to the main Competitive Alternatives 2012 study, a separate special report, Competitive Alternatives 2012 Special Report: Focus on Tax, has also been released on September 25, 2012. This report specifically assesses the general tax competitiveness of the 14 study countries, with an emphasis on tax costs in 55 major international cities.

Take a moment to learn about the specific tax insights contained in the Focus on Tax report, either from the study highlights or the full report.