Canada’s is known for being a safe space as well as an ethical country with an effective government and that has given us the best reputation in the world.
That’s according to the 2017 Country RepTrak, by the Reputation Institute, who measured the reputation of the 55 countries with the largest economies in the world.
Canada is used to the top spot: in the past six years we placed first four times. In 2016 and 2014, we were in second place, beat out by Sweden and Switzerland respectively.
Those two countries could have beaten us out again, since Switzerland also had 82.8 RepTrack points (with a centesimal difference), and Sweden had 81.9.
The points are based on ratings by 39,000 citizens of three main categories: effective government, advanced economy and appealing environment.
“The striking thing about Canada is that the nation’s reputation is equally strong both inside and outside its borders — which should be a source of pride on its 150th birthday,” Fernando Prado, managing partner at the Reputation Institute, said in a release.
The reputation of a country is important, Prado explained, because it affects not only tourism, but its export and foreign investment.
U.S. sees biggest drop in reputation
The study found the U.S.’s reputation dropped nearly five points, the biggest drop any of the 55 countries, putting it in 38th place.
That’s largely due to Donald Trump.
“The main setbacks for the reputation of the United States are concentrated in the variables ‘is run by an effective government,’” the press release states.
But an interesting statistic is that while Mexico’s view of the U.S. plummeted, Americans have viewed Mexican in a new light.
The report says U.S. citizens have more favourable opinions on whether Mexicans are “polite and trustworthy people.”
Other big changes include a drop in reputation for the United Kingdom after Brexit, and a jump upwards for Greece as its economy recovers.
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