Germany has retained the top spot in the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index (NBI). Every year, the NBI examines the current reputation of 50 of the world’s leading and developing economies. The UK and Canada take second and third place respectively.
This year is marked by an overall decline in perception of nations’ reputations, and the top-10 NBI nations are not immune to this overall negative sentiment. While Germany retains the top position in the 2020 Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands IndexSM (NBI) for the fourth year in a row, this year is marked by noticeable gains and losses among leaders in the NBI ranking:
- The United Kingdom’s ranking jumps from fourth to second place, and Australia advances from 10th to eighth place – a record high for both nations.
- France, which was ranked in second place last year, drops to the fifth spot; and the United States, whose image stabilized in 2019 after plunging to sixth place in 2017 – sees further reputational declines in 2020 falling to 10th place – a record low for both nations.
Germany holds top spot in overall NBI ranking
Germany again ranks #1 out of 50 nations, marking the sixth time Germany tops the NBI list. Germany was the highest-ranked NBI nation in 2008, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Germany is just one year away from matching the United States’ record of seven years as the top NBI nation. Germany’s leading advantage is its consistent strengths across multiple reputational categories, particularly: Exports, Immigration and Investment, Culture, and Governance. Global citizens have positive feelings about buying German products, the employability of the German people, and the appeal of investing in German businesses, placing Germany first in all three categories for 2020.
Leadership in image sub-categories
The top-5 ranking for the NBI 2020 Exports category remains generally unchanged from 2019, with the exception that Japan rises to first place and the United States falls to second. Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada round out the list of top-5 nations – in the exact same rank order as last year.
Source/Image Credit: IPSOS
