WATCH: Canada has been restored to the top spot in an international survey of countries with the best reputation. As Mike Le Couteur reports, in typical Canadian fashion, we are humbled by the results.
VANCOUVER — Canada’s reputation in the world is the cream of the crop, according to a new survey of global public perception.
Our country claimed the top spot on the survey of 55 nations (based on GDP), conducted by the Reputation Institute, an international consulting firm based in Copenhagen and Boston.
Canada knocked Switzerland out of the No. 1 spot (Switzerland dropped to No. 4 this year) and topped Scandinavian and northern European countries which traditionally place at the top of “best places to live,” happiness indexes and the like.
Here’s a look at the top 20 countries on the Reputation Institute’s 2015 Country RepTrak:
But, Canada is no stranger to being in first place on the Country RepTrak: it’s held that spot all but two years since the survey began in 2010. Canada was second to Switzerland last year and to Sweden in 2010.
“When people perceive a country positively based on their direct experiences and through the lens of others, that translates into increased tourism dollars,” Reputation Institute managing partner Fernando Prado said in a press release. “That’s because a country’s reputation dictates supportive behaviors such as the willingness of people to visit that country.”
Canada’s ranking is based on the interviews of more than 48,000 people in G8 countries, according to the Reputation Institute.
To gauge the perception of 55 countries — in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia — the survey looked at three dimensions: effective government, appealing environment and advanced economy.
To back up our top ranking, survey respondents were most likely to want to visit, live, work and study in Canada. We also ranked high for potential investment (No. 2), interest in buying our products (No.5) and as a place to attend or organize events (No. 2). That could be a good thing for the Canadian economy, considering economists are predicting we’re headed towards another recession and the Canadian dollar dropped Wednesday on news of the Bank of Canada cutting the trend-setting interest rate by 0.5 per cent.
READ MORE: Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate as economy falls into recession
But based on that, the reputation ranking isn’t great news for those at the bottom of the list.
Those countries are:
- 51. Nigeria
- 52. Russia
- 53. Pakistan
- 54. Iran
- 55. Iraq
Russia, one of the world’s largest economies, saw its reputation slip in this year’s ranking, thanks to its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and continued involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
The world’s biggest economy, the United States, improved on its reputation but still failed to crack the Top 20, coming in at No. 22 (between Thailand and Poland).
Interestingly, financially-troubled Greece was in the Top 30 and even improved on its score from the 2014 ranking, although the Reputation Institute confirmed to Global News the survey was conducted between February and March of this year.
Here’s the full ranking:
While Canada is doing well in the eyes of respondents, Canadians’ image of their country is slightly lower. The Reputation Institute found that the internal reputation of Canada had a six-point difference from its external ranking — coming in second behind Australia for self-image.
What do you think of Canada’s reputation? Is Canada a country others should look up to? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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At the same time, Russians had a very high view of their country and came in third for self-image with the highest gap between how it viewed itself and how everyone else did — a 47.2 point gap.
Canada was also appealing on other fronts in the ranking, those not entirely tied to business and politics, such as lifestyle, how friendly and welcoming Canadians are and for being a beautiful country.
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