Ireland – Country Performance, Brand Strength and Reputation

Nicknamed the Celtic Tiger for its economic boom between the mid-90s until 2000, Ireland continues to ride the wave of foreign investment and low corporate tax. Its stellar growth has had its own challenges though, such as the economic recession, Brexit, and more recently, the pandemic, which has shaken the global economy.

Amidst all this chaos, how does the Republic of Ireland fare in terms of reputation and competitiveness, soft power, and sustainability?

Let’s take a closer look at:

• Ireland’s soft power and brand strength
• Its appeal to skilled labour, investors, and visitors
• The country’s global contribution to peace and wellbeing
• 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, Ireland secured the 29^th spot, sitting right behind Israel (27^th) and India (28^th). Impressively, it jumped one position from the previous ranking; this can be attributed to its score increasing from 41.9 in 2022 to 46.7 this year.

In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, Ireland secured the 23^rd position, behind South Korea (21^st) and Austria (22^nd). Notably, it performs best in two key areas: Adventure (14^th), which examines the level of friendliness, fun, suitability for tourism, scenic beauty, pleasant climate, and overall appeal; and Social Purpose (14^th), which evaluates animal, human, and property rights, care for the environment, commitment to climate goals and social justice, gender and racial equality, religious freedom, trustworthiness, and distribution of political power. The country has maintained its positioning from 2022, with its lowest scores in the Movers and Power categories.

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, Ireland secures the 25^th position, a drop of one position since 2022.

Appeal to Investors, Business, Talent, and Travel

The Expat Insider 2023 ranks Ireland in 39^th position out of 53 countries, below Singapore (37^th) and Belgium (38^th). However, it ranks 3^rd in the Career Prospect metric and 8^th in the Working Abroad metric.

Ireland, classified as a high-income country within the European regional group, currently holds the 12^th position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. Moreover, Ireland performs most remarkably in the Attract pillar, where it holds the 5^th position, while its main challenge is the VT Skills pillar, where it ranked 23^rd.

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, Ireland placed 6^th, a decline of one position from the previous ranking. Globally, it secures the 13^th position, maintaining its position from the previous ranking.

In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places Ireland at the 27^th global position, dropping out of the top 25 rank. Regionally, it now holds the 14^th position, experiencing a drop of three positions due to decreased tourism receipts, D2 – Digital Demand ©, and CBS Rating ©.

In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, Ireland secured the 2^nd position, showing an impressive jump from the 2022 ranking, where it placed 11^th. Currently, it sits just behind Denmark. In terms of specific characteristics, Ireland’s economic performance jumped six positions to the 1^st spot in 2023. It holds the 3^rd position for government efficiency, experiencing a jump of eight positions compared to 2022. Lastly, it jumped eight positions to 3^rd place for business efficiency, and holds the 19^th spot for infrastructure, jumping four positions since 2022.

According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, Ireland belongs to the second group, Strong Innovators, whereas Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden are Innovation Leaders in the region. Its performance has increased by 2.3% points during the period between 2016 and 2023. Its strengths are public-private co-publications, population with tertiary education, employment in knowledge-intensive activities, foreign doctorate students, and innovative SMEs collaborating with others. Meanwhile, its weaknesses are non-R&D innovation expenditures, R&D expenditures in the public sector, design applications, environment-related technologies, and R&D expenditure in the business sector.

Environmental Performance

The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks Ireland 24^th, below Italy (22^nd) and Cyprus (23^rd). 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. Ireland has experienced a change in score of +2.5.

Peace and Happiness

The Global Peace Index 2023 ranks Ireland 3^rd, dropping one position from last year’s index. Ireland sits behind Iceland (1^st) and Denmark (2^nd). It falls under the very high sector of the ‘State of Peace’ spectrum as defined by the Institute for Economics & Peace.

The Institute for Economics & Peace similarly ranks Ireland within the low impact (yellow) zone in terms of ‘Impact of Terrorism’ in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index. Ireland ranks 87^th, tying with Mauritania and below Vietnam (89^th).

Meanwhile, the World Happiness Report 2023, which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year average (2020–2022), ranks Ireland 14^th.

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 Ireland’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.