November 5, 2021

Germany has been named the best country in the world for the fifth year in a row in an international soft-power survey. Canada placed second while Nigeria ranked 59^th among top 60 best nations.

African countries namely Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana ranked better than Nigeria.

The UK fell from second to fifth in the rankings, in part due to a decline in its global reputation for welcoming foreign people and protecting the environment.

Meanwhile, the US rose to eighth after being tenth last year following the end of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Germany was followed by Canada, Japan, Italy and the UK in the ‘nation brands’ rankings by British political scientist Simon Anholt and pollster Ipsos.

Each year, the Nation Brands Index measures how 60 countries are perceived on six different scales including the country’s governance, friendliness, culture and quality of life.

In this year’s rankings, Germany retained its first place position for the fifth time in a row and seventh time overall. Their score improved to 71.1 per cent this year, compared to 69.1 per cent in 2020.

Germany’s reputation has benefited massively by people feeling positive about German products and the government’s work to fight poverty.

The country also earned points for its stellar reputation in sports, despite the country ranking ninth in the medal table at this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Canada also moved up to second place this year, after coming third place in 2020.

The country received high points for its policies on immigration and governance, while people also commended Canada for its culture and friendliness.

Meanwhile, the UK’s score rose from its 2020 score of 68.1 per cent to 70 per cent this year, meaning it was just 1.1 per cent away from Germany in the top spot.

Despite this, the UK fell from second to fifth this year. The country’s reputational strengths were focused on the country’s contributions to science and technology, its sports and contemporary culture, and strong educational qualifications

But the UK dropped points for the public’s perceptions surrounding how welcoming Brits are and its protection of the environment.

The U.S. was able to claw back two spots this year and was ranked eighth.

In 2020, the country had one of ‘the most notable declines’ after it dropped to 10th from sixth in 2019.

Ipsos said the fall was triggered by sharp decreases on the indices on Governance, tourism, immigration and investment.

But now, in 2021, Ipsos said ‘despite the Covid-19 still being prevalent in the US, a wide political divide in society, and persistent vaccine hesitancy,’ the country’s reputation has begun to improve.

For other countries not ranked in the top ten, China rose four spots to 31st while India fell by six to 40th.

Ipsos also found that people’s desire to visit countries around the world – if money was no object – has grown over time.

While the levels declined in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, levels of desire to visit foreign countries increased to its highest point in 2021.

–Adapted from UK MailOnline Report