Mishall RehmanThroughout this election season, we’ve constantly heard about how Canada’s reputation has fallen on the world stage. But according to a report conducted by the Reputation Institute, Canada takes first place as being the most reputable country in the world.
The Reputation Institute’s annual report “Country RepTrack: The World’s Most Reputable Countries,” analyzes a country based on multiple topics including government stability and economy. The Institute looks at 55 countries and measures their reputation based on levels of trust, esteem and admiration. The analysis is conducted from a survey of 48,000 people representing the G8 countries.
Additionally, 30,000 people from non-G8 countries with large economies, such as India, China, and Brazil, were also surveyed. Overall, sixteen categories are analyzed ranging from a country’s safety to the friendliness of its people. The report was published this summer.
After tallying up all the votes, Canada came out on top as the country with the best reputation. Other countries in the top ten included Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia.
Taking a closer look at the different dimensions of the report, Canada came in first for an appealing environment, meaning it is home to some of the friendliest people and beautiful sites. Canada ranked fifth for an advanced economy. This category was judged on whether a country has well-educated and reliable people, well-known brands, values education and is technologically advanced. Canada ranked fifth for having an effective government.
The people surveyed ranked Canada as the preferred country for working, studying, living and visiting.
The report notes that countries with the largest population or GDP are not necessarily those with the best reputation. Canada’s neighbor to the south wasn’t in the top twenty, but the report points out that the U.S.’s reputation has improved since 2008 calling it the “Obama Effect.” The U.S. has improved by 9.6 points since Obama became president.
The Reputation Institute conducts this report because “As in the case of companies, countries also have their own reputation, and that has an impact on their performance.” A country with a good reputation is more likely to attract tourists, increase exports, improve public diplomacy, attract Foreign Direct Investments and attract foreign knowledge and talent.
This is the third time in five years that Canada has ranked number one. Previously, Canada ranked number one in 2011 and 2013.
To provide a complete picture of a country’s reputation, the Reputation Institute used other reports including the UN World Happiness Report in which Canada ranks fifth; the Global Peace Index in which Canada is one of the most peaceful countries in the world and the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International in which Canada received a score of 81.
The Reputation Institute was founded in 1997 by Charles Fombrun and Cees Van Riel. Both professors in the field of business, the two started the “discipline of reputation management.” The Institute not only assesses the reputation of countries but also analyzes reputations of companies worldwide. The Reputation Institute has been recognized by many publications including The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time and many more.
