The latest FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index ranks Australia as the fifth most powerful country brand in the world, falling three positions from the second place it held in 2010. On the top remains Canada.
According to the 2011 edition of the Country Brand Index, Australia is the fifth most powerful country brand in the world, following Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand and Japan and ranking above countries such as the United States, France and Italy.
“Australia’s reputation is almost universally positive, plus it offers both the exotic – isolated, interesting flora and fauna – and the familiar – English-speaking, developed and integrated economically with the rest of the world,” suggests the report.
The Index also evaluates each country in several areas and it shows that Australia is the most recommended country to visit in world, ranking second in the list of the most esteemed countries.
The report shows that the general opinion is that Australia is good for business, ranking 4th on the list of the countries with the best investment climate.
Australia also ranks high in the quality of life area, ranking second in the list of the countries people would most like to live in and second in the list of the countries with most job opportunities.
Still, 2011 saw Australia fall three positions (in 2010 it held the second place in the Index following Canada), returning the country to the fifth place it held in the 2009 edition of the Country Brand Index.
The other countries
The 2011 edition of the Country Brand Index saw Canada maintaining the top position that achieved in 2010 when the U.S. fell from the first to the fourth place.
This year’s Index also saw Switzerland trading places with Australia, climbing from the fifth place it held in 2010 to the second in 2011, after having been ranked in the eleventh position in 2009. This means that in only two years, Switzerland climbed nine places.
The 2011 Index also saw, for the first time in its history, the UK leave the top ten.
The top ten
Here is the list of the top ten countries in the 2011 Country Brand Index:
- Canada
- Switzerland
- New Zealand
- Japan
- Australia
- United States
- Sweden
- Finland
- France
- Italy
On its seventh year, the Country Brand Index is a global study that accesses how travelers perceive the countries around world.
Photo by Rodrigo Gianesi