Dive Brief:
- Germany is considered the country with the best reputation for its investment opportunities, culture, exports, tourism and immigration policies, an annual survey found.
- France jumped from fourth to second place, and Canada advanced from fifth to third. The U.K., which had ranked third every year since 2011, dropped to fourth. Japan, which ranked second last year, dropped to fifth. The U.S. is in sixth place for the second year in a row, while Italy ranked seventh.
- Germany's ranking reflects a consistent view of its strengths across multiple reputation categories: exports, culture, immigration/investment and governance.
Dive Insight:
"Global citizens have positive feelings about buying German products and the employability of the German people," said the report, called the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index.
Global public perception of the U.S.'s people and governance has drastically diminished over the past three years, the report said. However, for the first time since 2016, the country has improved its overall score and settled in sixth place. The U.S. is among the top five nations in the exports, culture, tourism, and immigration and investment indices.
The survey ranks 50 developed and developing countries in six regions. For North America, it ranks the U.S. and Canada but not Mexico. For Europe, it ranks Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K.
Other findings:
- People feel good about buying products from Germany, the U.S. and Japan. The country-of-origin effect evaluates how people feel about purchasing products from countries in the study.
- Nations are sometimes compared to types of personalities. Respondents viewed Switzerland as the most trustworthy, New Zealand as the friendliest and happiest, Japan as the most creative, Brazil and Spain as the most fun, and Germany as the strongest.
- Digital properties in the U.S., the U.K. and France were the most frequently visited.
- Protecting the environment is the biggest global concern, nearly four in 10 respondents said.
