Following Mexico, Canada and the United States, Australia has been ranked one of the cheapest places in the world to do business, according to the KPMG competitive alternatives survey.

KPMG chief executive Geoff Wilson said Australia ranks highly for cost competitiveness in areas such as transport and web and multimedia operations.

Australia is also ranked number one for energy self-efficiency at a time when access to energy had become essential to business.

The survey, which is carried out by professional services firm, compared business costs in 10 countries and 136 cities and showed that to base a business in the Industrialised world, Australia was one of the cheapest countries. Some of the countries covered were Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom etc.

The most competitive of Australia’s large cities, was Melbourne while Adelaide was rated as the most competitive medium-sized city in Australia.

The study was conducted over six months and took into account 27 different cost factors such as labour, taxes, real estate and utilities.