New Zealand – Country Performance, Brand Strength and Reputation

New Zealand: How does Aotearoa – the “land of the long white cloud” – perform in global rankings that measure talent attraction potential, public diplomacy and soft power strength, environmental sustainability, and economic development? Why does the remote island nation have the reputation of being a good place for doing business?

Let’s take a closer look at:

• New Zealand’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

New Zealand’s Soft Power and Brand Strength

In the Global Soft Power Index 2023 by Brand Finance, New Zealand secures the 26^th spot, behind Qatar (24^th) and Austria (25^th). New Zealand dropped five positions from 2022, although its score increased by 1.5%.

In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, New Zealand secures the 8th position, behind Germany (7^th) and above the United Kingdom (9^th). Notably, New Zealand excels in three key areas: agility (4^th), social purpose (5^th), and adventure (7^th). New Zealand jumped three positions from 2022, with its lowest scores in power and heritage.

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, New Zealand secures the 14^th position, maintaining its position from the 2022 ranking.

How Attractive for Talent?

The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index 2019 placed New Zealand at the 19^th 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.

New Zealand, classified as a high-income country within the Eastern, Southeastern Asia, and Oceania regional group, currently holds the 18^th position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. It excels in the GK Skills and Enable pillars, ranking 11^th for both, but its main challenge lies in Vocational and Technical skills (57^th).

Environmental Performance

The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks New Zealand 26^th, sitting between Japan (25^th) and Spain (27^th). 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. Aotearoa has experienced a slight score change of negative 0.40.

How Peaceful and Safe?

The Global Peace Index 2023 ranks New Zealand 4^th, jumping two positions. New Zealand sits behind Denmark (2^nd) and Ireland (3^rd). New Zealand falls under the very high sector of the ‘State of Peace’ spectrum as defined by the Institute for Economics & Peace. New Zealand is positioned 1^st in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Institute for Economics & Peace ranks New Zealand within the medium impact zone in terms of ‘Impact of Terrorism’ in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index. New Zealand ranks 46^th, sitting between Russia (45^th) and Côte d’Ivoire (47^th).

Meanwhile, the World Happiness Report 2023, which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year average 2020–2022, ranks New Zealand 10^th.

Appeal to Digital Nomads, Business, Trade and Travel

The Expat Insider 2023 ranks New Zealand 45^th out of 53 countries, below the UK (43^rd) and Japan (44^th). It ranks highest in the Environment and Climate metric, where it placed 8^th.

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, New Zealand continues to place 2^nd. Globally, it jumped two positions since the previous ranking. According to Bloom Consulting, the country’s success is attributed to increased FDI Net inflows and improvements in its online and social media performance, with the country expected to experience more growth in the near future.

In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places New Zealand at the 24^th global position, between Norway (23^rd) and Egypt (25^th), demonstrating a jump of one position since the previous ranking. Its success is due to high levels of D2 – Digital Demand © and continuous growth across online and social media performance reports. However, there is room for growth in terms of CBS Rating ©, which fell this time around. Regionally, Aotearoa continues to hold the 2^nd position.

In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, New Zealand secured the 31^st position, maintaining its ranking from 2022. Currently, it sits behind the UK (29^th) and Thailand (30^th), while surpassing Lithuania (32^nd) and France (33^rd).

In terms of specific characteristics, New Zealand’s economic performance decreased by three positions to the 50^th spot in 2023. It holds the 21^st position for government efficiency, experiencing a drop of four positions compared to 2022. Lastly, it jumped one position to the 35^th position for business efficiency and jumped one position to the 28^th spot for infrastructure.

New Zealand a Good Country?

In the Caf World Giving Index 2023, New Zealand secured the 10^th position, a drop of five positions from last year’s ranking. In terms of specific metrics, 65% of the adult population helped a stranger, 58% donated money, and 35% volunteered.

In the Good Country Index, New Zealand currently holds the 19^th position overall, with notable subfactors as follows: Science & Technology (14^th), Culture (35^th), International Peace & Security (17^th), World Order (15^th), Planet & Climate (30^th), Prosperity & Equality (73^rd), and Health & Wellbeing (26^th). It’s worth mentioning that in 2022, New Zealand was ranked 22^nd, and in 2021, it held the 17^th position, showing that the country has almost bounced back to 2021 levels.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, New Zealand ranked in the dark blue zone (9-10 range) with a 9.61 out of 10, higher than Australia, which scored 8.71.

The 2022 Corruption Perception Index ranks New Zealand 2^nd with a score of 87/100, tying with Finland and sitting under Denmark. Its score has decreased by one since 2021.

The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranks New Zealand in 47^th position. The report highlights that the country continues to face many challenges across the majority of the goals. However, the Gender Equality factor has reached and continues to be on track with the SDG goal standard.

Last updated in November 2023. Explore more country profiles here.

Enjoyed our summary of rankings and indices on New Zealand’s economic performance, its sustainability, soft power, attractiveness for talent, investors, visitors, its country brand strength, and reputation? Thanks for sharing!

Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended to provide a general overview of New Zealand’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.