The United States continues to lead the world in global image

The United States continues to lead the world in global image, according to GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, a division of GfK Custom Research North America and Simon Anholt, the leading policy advisor.

Results from the 2010 Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM (NBI), which measures the global image of 50 countries, shows the United States holding the top spot for the second year in a row as the country with the best overall brand. Among the top 10 nations, Southern Europe has seen several changes, with Spain no longer part of the top 10, and Italy overtaken by Canada. France is now ranked lower than Germany.

“After last year, which saw the United States make such a significant leap in its standing to the top nation spurred by the election of President Obama, the reputation landscape of the countries comprising the top 20 have remained relatively stable,” said Simon Anholt, NBI founder and an independent advisor to over a dozen national governments around the world. “However, the uncertain global economic climate, combined with financial bailouts, natural disasters and civil unrests have created some interesting shifts, especially among southern European nations.”

The 2010 NBISM survey was conducted from July 7, 2010 to August 4, 2010 in 20 major developed and developing countries that play important and diverse roles in international relations, trade, and the flow of business, cultural, and tourism activities. The survey results are based on respondents’ ratings of 50 nations on questions in six categories: Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment. The NBI ranking is based on the average of these six scores.

“While top ranked nations remain to be developed countries and the BRIC countries continue to rank in the 20s, Brazil and China, boasting both economic power and increasing geopolitical clout, are the two countries that have shown some of the greatest NBISM score gains between 2009 and 2010.,” adds Xiaoyan Zhao, senior vice president and director of the NBI study at GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. “The steady gains of developing economies suggest that the reputation gaps between the West and the East will continue to narrow. For example, although Japan still holds the top position on Nation Brands Exports dimension, China – the newly crowned second largest exporter in the world – has moved from 21st in 2008 to 14th in 2010 on this dimension.

Mr. Anholt points out the importance of understanding not only the overall reputation standing of nations, but also individual attributes: “While the United States ranks No. 1 on the overall NBI, it ranks much lower on a few individual questions such as “behaves responsibly in world peace and security” (21st) and “behaves responsibly in protecting the environment” (26th).