Italy: How does one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations perform in global rankings that measure soft power, talent attraction potential, and environmental sustainability? How does it fare in terms of economic competitiveness and public diplomacy?
Let’s take a closer look at:
- Italy’s soft power and brand strength
- Its appeal to skilled labour, investors, and visitors
- The country’s global contribution to peace and well-being
- How well it fares in terms of happiness and sustainability
Soft Power and Country Brand Strength
In the Global Soft Power Index 2023 by Brand Finance, Italy secures the 9th spot, slightly trailing Canada (7th) and Switzerland (8th). Impressively, its score has shown growth, rising from 54.7 in 2022 to 56.6 this year, coinciding with the country’s ranking rising by one position. Italy’s global success stems from its esteemed reputation, influence, and widespread recognition. Its cultural heritage ranks third globally, trailing only Greece and Egypt.
In tourism, Italy stands among the top four countries, surpassed only by the Maldives, Switzerland, and France. The nation excels in business and trade efficiency, with popular products and brands rivalling only the USA and Japan. However, it faces challenges in ease of doing business due to a weak and unstable economy with limited growth potential. The perceived weaknesses in governance, education & science, and sustainability offer opportunities for improvement.
In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, Italy secures the 15th position, behind Denmark (13th) and Finland (14th). Notably, it excels in three key areas: heritage (1st), assessing cultural accessibility, richness of history, food quality, and geographic/cultural attractions; cultural influence (1st), which analyses trendiness, modernity, and strength of consumer brands; and adventure (2nd), which examines the level of friendliness, tourism appeal, scenic beauty, pleasant climate, and overall sexiness. However, Italy dropped one position from 2022, with its lowest scores in entrepreneurship and open for business factors.
The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brand Index (NBI) calculates its ranking based on averaging the scores of six different factors: exports, governance, tourism, culture, people, and immigration. According to the NBI 2023 ranking, Italy secures the 5th position, dropping one spot from the 2022 ranking.
Competitiveness
The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index 2019 edition placed Italy at the 30th position among 141 countries. However, it’s important to note that an updated version of this report hasn’t been released in the past five years, and rankings may have shifted since then.
Appeal to Business, Talent, and Travel
The Expat Insider 2023 ranks Italy in 47th position out of 53 countries, below New Zealand (45th) and Malta (46th). However, it ranks 17th in the Leisure Options metric and 27th in the Culture and Welcome metric.
As per the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2023, Italy secures the 18th position for FDI inflows in 2022, trailing behind the UAE (16th) and Indonesia (17th). This marks a remarkable increase from its 2021 ranking, where the country held the 183rd position with negative inflows. This success can be attributed to increased investment in greenfield projects and the doubling of international project finance deals this past year.
The Bloom Consulting biannual Country Brand Ranking Trade Edition 2022-2023 assesses investment-related variables, emphasising perceptions of a country’s trade-specific brand and evaluating branding performance. Regionally, Italy placed 7th, behind Ireland (6th) and above Spain (8th), an increase of one position. Globally, it secures the 14th position, a jump of three positions since the previous report. This success can be attributed to slight increases in both Net FDI and social media performance.
In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places Italy at the 2nd global position, jumping five positions from the previous ranking, sitting behind the global and regional leader Spain. Despite the major impact of Covid-19 on the nation, it experienced continuous growth in D2 – Digital Demand ©. Combined with improvements in its social media performance, this compensated for a minor drop in tourism receipts and online performance.
Classified as a high-income country within the European regional group, Italy currently holds the 32nd position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. Notably, Italy performs most remarkably in the Grow pillar, where it holds the 24th position, and its main challenge is the Attract pillar, where it ranked 40th.
In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, Italy secured the 41st position, showing consistency with previous rankings. Currently, it sits just behind Portugal (39th) and India (40th) while surpassing Slovenia (42nd) and Poland (43rd).
In terms of specific characteristics, Italy’s economic performance dropped three positions to the 44th spot in 2023. It holds the 56th position for government efficiency, experiencing a drop of two positions compared to 2022. Lastly, it drops four positions to the 38th position for business efficiency and holds the 30th spot for infrastructure, jumping one position since 2022.
According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, Italy belongs to the third group, Moderate Innovators, whereas Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden are Innovation Leaders in the region. Its performance has increased by 15.6 points during the period between 2016 and 2023, although in the 2022-2023 period, the country has experienced a 5.6-point decrease.
Peace and Happiness
The Global Peace Index 2023 ranks Italy 34th, remaining consistent with last year’s index. Italy sits behind Spain (32nd) and Taiwan (33rd). It falls under the high sector of the ‘State of Peace’ spectrum as defined by the Institute for Economics & Peace. The country positioned 24th regionally amongst its fellow European countries, led by Iceland and Denmark.
The Institute for Economics & Peace similarly ranks Italy within the medium impact zone in terms of ‘Impact of Terrorism’ in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index. It ranks 53rd, sitting between Lebanon (52nd) and Canada (54th).
Meanwhile, the World Happiness Report 2023, which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year average 2020–2022, ranks Italy 33rd.
Environmental Performance & Sustainability
The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks Italy 23rd, sitting between Cyprus (22nd) and Ireland (25th). The EPI analyses the performance of 180 countries, scoring and ranking these countries on their environmental performance using the most recent year of data available, as well as providing calculable changes in scores over the previous decade. The country has experienced a change in score of positive 6.
The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranks Italy in 24th position, highlighting that it continues to face some significant and major challenges. However, the report indicates that the country is on track in areas such as No Poverty and Clean Water and Sanitation.
Italy a “Good” Country?
In the CAF World Giving Index 2023, Italy secured the 87th position. The country’s top performance is in the Helping a Stranger factor, where 53% of its adult population helped a stranger in the past year. This is a massive jump for the nation, as in last year’s ranking it placed 109th.
In the Good Country Index, Italy currently holds the 24th position overall, with notable subfactors as follows: Science & Technology (37th), Culture (25th), International Peace & Security (64th), World Order (40th), Planet & Climate (56th), Prosperity & Equality (16th), and Health & Well-being (21st). It’s worth mentioning that in 2022, Italy was also ranked 24th, and in 2021, it held the 19th position. While the country has experienced a five-point drop since the 2021 ranking, there has been a significant increase in the Science & Technology factor, as well as the Prosperity & Equality factor.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, Italy ranked in the blue zone (7-8 range) with a 7.69 out of 10. This is higher than Belgium, which scored 7.64, but lower than France, which scored 8.07.
The 2022 Corruption Perception Index ranks Italy 41st with a score of 56/100, tying with Czechia, Georgia, and Slovenia. Italy’s score has remained the same as in 2021.
Last updated in October 2023. More country profiles here.
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Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended to provide a general overview of Italy’s economic and cultural landscape and facilitate comparison over time. While we strive for accuracy and completeness, we are not responsible for any typographical errors or inaccuracies. The data is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. Users should verify any information before relying on it for decision-making purposes.
