Place Brand Rankings and Indices: Overview

Place brand rankings and indices can be useful tool for countries, cities and destinations to find out how they perform, also in comparison with other places. Here we provide you an overview of country, city and destination brand rankings which we use in our place brand observatories.


Country brand rankings and indices

Country Brand Index

Where brands are made, the geographic location of businesses and the regulatory forces shaping global trade and industry are fundamental to our understanding of the future. Which is why FutureBrand produces one of the world’s largest and longest standing global study of country brand perception.

Published by FutureBrand (see our interview with Gustavo Koniszczer)


Anholt Ipsos Nation Brands Index

Simon Anholt developed the Nation Brands Index in 2005 as a way to measure the image and reputation of the world’s nations, and to track their profiles as they rise or fall. Now, in partnership with Ipsos, Simon Anholt has launched an expanded Nation Brands Index, the only analytical ranking of the world’s national images and reputations.

The studies poll nearly 20,000 people in 20 countries each year, asking more than 40 questions about their perceptions of 50 countries.

Published by Ipsos


Good Country Index

Established in 2014, The Good Country Index is a new initiative developed by Simon Anholt. The index aims to portray the extent to which each country contributes to the global community.

“The idea of the Good Country Index is pretty simple: to measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away. Using a wide range of data from the U.N. and other international organisations, we’ve given each country a balance-sheet to show at a glance whether it’s a net creditor to mankind, a burden on the planet, or something in between.”

Published by Simon Anholt | More information here


Global Peace Index 

Provided by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), this is a study that ranks countries according to their peacefulness. Based on 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators, IEP measures the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation.

Published by the Institute for Economic & Peace | More information here


Ease of Doing Business Index

Published by the World Bank, this is an aggregate figure that includes different parameters which define the ease of doing business in a country. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Published by the World Bank | More information here


Global Competitiveness Index

The Global Competitiveness Index is a ranking that integrates the macroeconomic and the micro/business aspects of competitiveness into a single index to assess the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens. Based on 110 variables organized into twelve pillars, the index is published every year by the World Economic Forum.

Published by the World Economic Forum | More information here


Happy Planet Index 

The Happy Planet Index combines four elements to show how efficiently residents of different countries are using environmental resources to lead long, happy lives. The multiplication of the sub-indices of well-being, life expectancy and inequality of income is divided by the indicator of ecological footprint. This way, the index puts a bigger emphasis on the sustainable aspect of well-being.

Published by the Economics Foundation | More information here


Environmental Performance Index

The 2018 Environmental Performance Index ranks 180 countries on 24 performance indicators across ten issue categories covering environmental health and ecosystem vitality. These metrics provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals. This way, the index offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance.

Published by Yale Centre for Environmental Law & Policy 


Countries of the Future

Regional Rankings of countries with the most promising prospects for inward investment, economic development and business expansion. For example, African Countries of the Future (2013/2014)

Published by fDi Intelligence | More information here


Country Brand Ranking (Digital, Tourism and Trade)

Bloom Consulting‘s annual rankings measure the effectiveness of country, city, and region brands in attracting tourism, investment, and talent.

Published by Bloom Consulting | More information here


City brand rankings and indices

Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index

Simon Anholt developed the City Brands Index in 2006 as a way to measure the image and reputation of the world’s cities, and to track their profiles as they rise or fall.

Now, in partnership with GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, Simon has launched an expanded City Brands Index which is based on studies polling nearly 20,000 people in 20 countries each year, asking more than 40 questions about their perceptions of 50 cities.

Published by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media


City RepTrak – Reputation Index

City RepTrak® is a global survey of more than 22,000 consumers, collected in the G8 countries, which ranks the world’s 100 most reputable cities based on levels of trust, esteem, admiration and respect, as well as perceptions regarding 13 attributes, grouped into three dimensions: “Advanced Economy”, “Effective Government” and “Appealing Environment”.


Best Cities Ranking

This ranking evaluates cities with a population of one million or more across six pillars of place equity: Place, Product, Programming, People, Prosperity, and Promotion. Designed by Resonance Consultancy, the ranking is based on a survey of 1500 “Mobile Millenials” —Americans aged 20 to 36 who have travelled in the past year— and evaluate the factors they consider to be most important in choosing a city to live or visit.

Published by Resonance Consultancy | More information here 


Green City Index

The Green City Index methodology was developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit in cooperation with Siemens.  Looking at the environmental performance of cities, it is based on approximately 30 indicators across eight to nine categories depending on the region. It covers CO2 emissions, energy, buildings, land use, transport, water and sanitation, waste management, air quality and environmental governance.

Published by the Economist Intelligence Unit | More information here 


Sustainable Cities Index

The Sustainable Cities Index ranks 100 global cities on three dimensions of sustainability: People, Planet and Profit. These represent social, environmental and economic sustainability to offer an indicative picture of the health and wealth of cities for the present and the future.

Published by Arcadis | More information here


Global Financial Centres

The Global Financial Centres Index measures the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 financial centre assessments with over 100 indices from world-know organisations such as the World Bank, the OECD and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Published by Z/Yen Partners and China Development Institute | More information here


Cities of the Future

Regional rankings and portraits of cities with the most promising prospects for inward investment, economic development and business expansion.

Published by fDi Magazine (Financial Times) | More information here


The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor (EU)

Published for the first time in 2017, the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor shows how well 168 selected cities in 30 European countries perform on a range of measures describing the ‘Cultural Vibrancy’, the ‘Creative Economy’ and the ‘Enabling Environment’ of a city.

Published by the European Commision, it is designed to help national, regional and municipal policymakers identify local strengths and opportunities and benchmark their cities against similar urban centres using both quantitative and qualitative data.

Published by the European Commission | More information here


EUI Global Livability Index

The concept of liveability is simple: it assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions. Assessing liveability has a broad range of uses, from benchmarking perceptions of development levels to assigning a hardship allowance as part of expatriate relocation packages.

This liveability rating quantifies the challenges that a city might present to an individual’s lifestyle. To get this rating, the EIU scores each city on over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors, across five broad categories: Stability, Healthcare, Culture and environment, Education, Infrastructure.

Published by Economist Intelligence Unit | More information here


Mercer Quality of Living Ranking

Mercer conducts its Quality of Living survey annually to help multinational companies and other employers compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. Employee incentives include a quality-of-living allowance and a mobility premium.

Mercer’s Quality of Living Reports provide valuable information and hardship premium recommendations for over 440 cities throughout the world; the ranking covers 230 of these cities.


PwC Cities of Opportunity

Cities of Opportunity is a continually evolving project created for cities, their leaders, businesses, and citizens seeking to improve their economies and quality of life.

This study includes 59 variables which have been ranked, scored and then placed into their 10 indicators for all 30 cities (for example, ease of doing business or city gateway).

Published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers | More information here


Destination brand rankings and indices

Top 100 Green Destinations Ranking

The TOP 100 Green Destinations ranking (a certification custom-tailored to the needs of destinations is in the making) identifies those destinations which provide what those visitors are looking for, making them more future-proof.

The initiative to establish Green Destinations as an organisation was taken by Albert Salman to provide an organisational platform for the brand “Green Destinations”.

Green Destinations provides a global platform for ambitious destinations eager to improve their quality and sustainability, from their own strengths, in a measurable and transparent way.

Published by GreenDestinations.info | More information here