Ireland drops one place to 10th in global reputation study

Ireland has dropped one place to 10th in a study of the reputations of 55 countries.

Canada and Switzerland took joint first in the study, with scores of 82.75, while Sweden, Australia and New Zealand filled out the top five spots. Ireland finished with a score of 77.4 out of 100.

The study measures a variety of factors including esteem, admiration and good image that a country evokes.

The lowest-rated countries in this year's RepTrak study were Iraq, with a score of 28.3, Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria and Russia, with a score of 40.3.

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The report highlights risks and opportunities for each of the 55 countries studied. Brexit took its toll on the UK’s reputation, which went from 13th in the index to 18th.

Donald Trump’s presidency, too, appears to be having consequences for the US, which witnessed both the worst reputation loss in percentage terms in this survey and the biggest drop in ranking position, falling from 28th to 38th.

‘Welcoming people’

According to Niamh Boyle, a managing director at the Reputations Agency, Ireland's performance was positive in an uncertain international political climate.

“As competition intensifies internationally, a country’s reputation matters more than ever,” she said. “It is encouraging to see Ireland consolidate its strong global reputation in this year’s study.

“Ireland continues to be viewed as one of the most beautiful countries in the world, along with being a safe place, with friendly and welcoming people. These are the top three drivers of a country’s reputation, of the 17 attributes we measured.

“As a result, Ireland scores highly as a country where people would wish to visit, live and work.”

Improvement

Last year was the first time that Ireland had made the top 10 when it took 9th position. Its drop in the index comes despite an improvement in its reputation score.

Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt saw the biggest improvement in their ranking.

The RepTrak study, commissioned by the Reputation Institute, took place through an online questionnaire among 39,000 members of the general public in the G8 countries.