In an international soft-power survey, Germany was named the best country in the World for the fifth consecutive year.
The UK fell from second place to fifth in the rankings due in part to a decline of its global reputation for being a welcoming country and protecting the environment.
The US rose to eighth place last year, after being tenth following Donald Trump’s resignation.
The UK was followed by Canada and Japan in the ‘nation brand’ rankings by Simon Anholt, British political scientist, and pollster Ipsos.
The Nation Brands Index is an annual measurement of how 60 countries are perceived by six different scales. These include the country’s governance and friendliness as well as culture and quality-of-life.
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In an international soft-power survey, Germany was named the best country in the World for the fifth consecutive year.
Germany’s reputation has been greatly enhanced by people who are positive about German products as well as the government’s efforts in fighting poverty.
Germany was ranked first in the rankings this year for the fifth consecutive year and seventh overall. Their score was 71.1 percent this year, up from 69% in 2020.
Positive attitudes about German products and government’s work to combat poverty have made a huge impact on Germany’s reputation.
The country also received points for its outstanding reputation in sports, despite being ninth in the Tokyo Olympics medal table.
Canada moved up to second this year after being third in 2020.
Canada received high marks for its policies on immigration, governance, and friendly people.
The UK scored an increase of just 1.1 percentage points from its 2020 score (68.1%) to 71% this year. This puts it in close proximity to Germany at the top spot.
The UK dropped from second to fifth in this ranking this year, despite this. The country’s strengths in terms of reputation were its contributions to science and technology, modern culture and its sports and current culture, as well as its strong educational qualifications.
The UK lost points in the perceptions of how welcoming Brits are, and how it protects the environment.
The United States was able to regain two places this year and was ranked eighth.
After falling to 10th in 2019, the country experienced one of its’most notable declines’ in 2020.
Ipsos also found out that people have a growing desire to travel the world, even if money is not an object, over time.
According to Ipsos, the fall was caused by sharp declines in the indices of Governance, tourism, and investment.
Ipsos stated that, despite the Covid-19 still being present in the US, a wide-ranging political divide in the US and persistent vaccine hesitancy, the country’s image has begun to improve in 2021.
China rose four places to 31st, while India fell six places to 40th.
Ipsos also found that people have a growing desire to travel the world, even if money is not an object, over time.
While the coronavirus epidemic in 2020 caused a decline in levels, the desire to travel abroad rose to its highest level in 2021.