Ireland ranks in top ten in global reputation survey
IRELAND has maintained its position in the top ten annual ranking of the world’s most reputable countries, while the Brexit vote has been blamed for denting the UK’s position.
Ireland was ranked tenth out of 55 countries assessed in the international survey – down one on last year’s ranking, according to the RepTrak study carried out by the Reputations Agency and Reputation Institute.
Canada has the world’s best reputation, according to the study, with Switzerland in second place and Sweden in third.
Ireland is placed as the sixthmost beautiful country, with a score of 87.45, ahead of France, Italy, Greece and Spain. It’s also the seventh-most friendly and welcoming country.
But its lowest ranking is in 22nd place for technologically advanced – with a score of 64. Its lowest score was for “wellknown brands” at 63.12.
Niamh Boyle, managing director at The Reputations Agency, said Ireland’s performance and its strong global reputation was positive news in an uncertain political international climate.
“As competition intensifies internationally, a country’s reputation matters more than ever. It is encouraging to see Ireland consolidate its strong global reputation in this year’s study,” Ms Boyle said.
Greece’s reputation has seen the biggest improvement, up 14.3pc, followed by the United Arab Emirates, up 13.6pc, and Egypt up 10.7pc.
On the other hand, the United States (-8.1pc), Russia (-6.4pc), and Nigeria (-5.4pc) showed the most diminished reputations.
The US has not only experiencing the worst reputation loss in terms of percentage, but also in terms of ranking index positions – dropping from 28th in 2016 to 38th in 2017.
The Brexit vote has also dented the reputation of the United Kingdom.
It has sunk five places in the ranking index, from 13th in 2016, to 18th in 2017.
The RepTrak study ranked the reputations of 55 of the largest countries based on levels of trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling.
The study took place through an online questionnaire among 39,000 members of the general public in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and US.
Perceptions regarding 17 attributes are grouped into three dimensions: advanced economy, effective government and appealing environment.
Countries with strong reputations are perceived positively in all three areas.