OverviewPlace Rankings & Indices

Rankings and indices provide valuable insights into the performance of countries and cities. These tools help us track progress over time and compare different places on various metrics. But which rankings are the most trusted and useful for specific topics and audiences?

Find out in our Rankings Dashboard - a curated list of rankings and indices most trusted by leading experts in place branding.

Country Rankings
City Rankings
Destination Rankings

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What Experts Say

Consistently applied since 2005, well-rounded, and widely respected for providing a comprehensive assessment of national reputation across multiple dimensions.

Considerations: Some experts feel it doesn’t adequately capture resident satisfaction or perceptions.

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Strong focus on trade and economic aspects; useful for understanding economic positioning.

Considerations: Some experts view it as overly consulting-driven, based on traditional economic factors, providing surface-level insights.

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Provides valuable insights into global generosity and civic engagement.

Considerations: Limited focus on economic or cultural factors influencing generosity.

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Highly respected for highlighting governance and corruption issues.

Considerations: Relies heavily on perception rather than concrete data.

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Strong reputation for environmental measurement accuracy.

Considerations: Sometimes criticized for neglecting social aspects of sustainability and failure to capture macro-level sustainability trends effectively.

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Highly regarded for assessing political systems and governance.

Considerations: Can be perceived as biased due to its heavy reliance on Western democratic norms.

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Lauded for its structured and consistent methodology. Its broad set of indicators allows for nuanced insights into innovation ecosystems.

Considerations: May not fully reflect informal or grassroots innovation and can be limited by differences in national data collection methods or the fast pace of technological change.

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Widely respected for highlighting areas of conflict and peacebuilding opportunities.

Considerations: Limited economic or cultural factors are considered.

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Lauded for its comprehensive approach to assessing talent competitiveness, combining both qualitative and quantitative data. Its multi-dimensional framework offers valuable insights for stakeholders aiming to enhance their talent strategies.

Considerations: May not fully capture the nuances of informal labor markets or the rapid changes in digital skills demand.

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Provides valuable insights into global terrorism trends.

Considerations: Heavily focused on negative aspects of security; lacks broader economic or social dimensions.

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Respected for its focus on a country's contribution to the global community.

Considerations: Not designed to measure brand strength or economic performance; more focused on ethical and humanitarian metrics.

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Combines statistical data with executive opinion surveys, for a holistic perspective.

Considerations: Focuses heavily on economic metrics; not directly related to brand perception or country reputation.

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Well-regarded for providing practical insights into expatriate satisfaction.

Considerations: Limited relevance for broader economic or cultural analysis.

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Recognized for its extensive user-generated data, offering timely insights into the cost of living worldwide. Its granular breakdown of expenses aids individuals and organizations in making informed financial decisions.

Considerations: The crowd-sourced nature of the data may lead to variations in accuracy. Differences in data submission rates across countries can impact comprehensiveness.

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Valued for its real-time, user-contributed data, offering a grassroots perspective on quality of life across countries. Allows for nuanced comparisons between nations.

Considerations: The reliance on user-submitted data may introduce biases or inconsistencies which can affect the comparability and reliability of the rankings.

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As a recent addition to the field, RepCore Nations offers fresh insights into country reputations, indicating promising potential for future analyses.

Considerations: Being a new study, its methodologies and findings are yet to be extensively validated within the industry.

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Provides a structured assessment of sustainability performance.

Considerations: Heavily focused on environmental and social metrics; not a brand-oriented ranking.

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Popular for its focus on well-being and quality of life.

Considerations: Can be perceived as subjective due to its reliance on self-reported data.

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Provides broad, media-friendly insights into country reputations.

Considerations: Can be overly simplistic, lacking academic rigor.

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Esteemed for its comprehensive and balanced methodology. The inclusion of diverse indicators provides a holistic view of institutional strengths.

Considerations: The reliance on self-reported data from institutions may introduce inconsistencies. Additionally, the emphasis on research output can overshadow other aspects of university performance, such as teaching quality and student satisfaction.

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Credible framework for evaluating urban sustainability efforts with a broad range of indicators.

Considerations: Some experts feel it lacks cultural and social dimensions, focusing mainly on environmental aspects.

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Highly valued for providing strategic insights into financial performance and business environment, especially useful for guiding resource allocation based on economic trends.

Considerations: Strong emphasis on traditional financial metrics, lacking social and environmental dimensions.

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Highly credible and comprehensive, covering economic, cultural, and social aspects with a balanced view.

Considerations: Lacks granularity when it comes to smaller cities; focuses mostly on major global hubs and may therefore overlook emerging “up and coming” cities.

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Comprehensive framework covering multiple aspects of city performance.

Considerations: Broad focus, perhaps best used together with more focused rankings to get the most value.

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Uses valuable statistical data which provides insights into how cities leverage technology to address urban challenges and improve livability.

Considerations: Strong focus on technological factors, overlooking broader urban management challenges.

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Recognized for its broad analysis of city innovation potential.

Considerations: Criticized for occasionally over-relying on tech-related metrics, neglecting cultural or social innovation.

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Valued for providing insights into cities’ global connectivity and attractiveness for business.

Considerations: Heavily focused on major cities, leaving out smaller or emerging cities.

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Useful for HR departments and organizations planning international assignments.

Considerations: Limited to expatriate-related cost assessments; does not provide broader economic or cultural insights.

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Highly regarded for providing detailed comparisons of living conditions for expatriates.

Considerations: Limited focus on cultural and economic factors; mainly targets relocation and HR-related decision-making.

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Frequently updated, providing real-time insights from user contributions.

Considerations: Data quality may vary due to its crowd-sourced nature.

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Provides a broad understanding of living conditions across cities.

Considerations: Crowd-sourced data may not always be reliable or consistent.

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Robust economic forecasting with well-rounded, data-driven insights. A valuable tool for policymakers and city planners.

Considerations: Focuses heavily on economic indicators, with less attention given to softer metrics like culture and livability. New study, making it difficult to compare performance over time.

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Praised for its comprehensive approach, providing valuable insights into the student experience across various urban centers.

Considerations: The reliance on available data and surveys may introduce biases. The weighting of indicators might not reflect individual student priorities.

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Popular for blending quantitative data with real-world perceptions; provides dynamic insights.

Considerations: Perceived as more engagement-focused than analytical, potentially less rigorous than other rankings.

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Global Destination Sustainability Index

Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index

Published by: GDS-Movement

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What Experts Say

Praised for its holistic and practical framework that helps destinations embed sustainability into their strategies and operations.

Considerations: May rely heavily on self-reported data and requires consistent effort and resources from participating destinations.

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Praised for its hands-on, grassroots approach to sharing sustainability success stories.

Considerations: Relies on self-nomination and qualitative story submissions, limiting comparability across destinations.

Discover Custom Reports by TPBO

Our custom reports complement the detailed reporting that most of the featured rankings offer by providing a clear, independent overview of how your city or country performs across multiple indices—combined with expert feedback on brand, reputation, and strategy.

We bring together the bigger picture: a bird’s-eye view of your place’s strengths and challenges according to ranking data, benchmarking your ranking results against peers and translating them into strategic insights and opportunities.

Designed for place brand leaders, our reports provide expert analysis and tailored recommendations to support more informed decisions—and stronger impact.


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