Canada has topped a survey ranking the reputations of the world’s developed nations, earning it the title of the “most admired” country in the world.
The annual Reputation Institute survey ranks the reputations of developed nations across the world on the basis of a variety of environmental, political, and economic factors. According to the survey, Canada now has the best reputation of any country in the world.
For 2015, Canada regained top spot in the rankings, having slipped to second place in 2014. Before that, Canada had held the top spot for three years in a row, from 2011 to 2013.
The latest survey places Canada’s southern neighbour the United States at a distant 22nd place. Norway is second on the list, with Sweden, Switzerland, and Australia rounding out the top 5 positions.
According to the Reputation Institute, Canada rates highly in several of the categories assessed in the survey, scoring high marks for its effective government, lack of corruption, friendly and welcoming people, and social support system.
The Reputation Institute gathered data from around 48,000 residents of G8 countries, with respondents asked to consider a variety of factors and rank the reputations of the world’s 55 richest nations (based on GDP).
Canada did lack in a few areas, with a lack of strong brand names and companies counting against it. Respondents also felt Canada did not offer any significant contributions to global culture. However, Canada was perceived to be a positive contributor in the most important categories.
The Reputation Institute also conducted a parallel survey ranking countries based on their self-image, or what their citizens think about their own countries. Australia ranked first on this survey, followed by Canada, Russia, India and Germany.
A comparison of the two surveys reveals that Russia had the widest gap between their self-image and how others perceive them, with China, India and the US also having a considerable gap between their internal and external reputation.