Spain – Country Performance, Brand Strength and Reputation

Spain represents a captivating fusion of history, culture, and lifestyle. Its iconic landmarks and rich legacy, coupled with its dedication to preserving traditions, enhance its international reputation as a cultural treasure trove, solidifying its status as a highly desirable destination. But how well does Spain perform in leading rankings and indices as a place to do business and to live in? What about its environmental sustainability and soft power, its country brand strength, and reputation?

Let’s take a closer look at:

• Spain’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, Spain secures the 12^th spot, slightly trailing the UAE (10^th) and Sweden (9^th). Spain’s position has dropped by one spot since last year, although its score has increased from 53 in 2022 to 54.9 this year.

In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, Spain secured the 17^th position, behind Italy (15^th) and Singapore (16^th). Notably, Spain excels in three key areas: Heritage (3^rd), Cultural Influence (4^th), and Adventure (4^th). However, Spain dropped one position from 2022, with the lowest scores in the Movers 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, Spain secures the 11^th position, the same as in 2022.

Spain has been improving its economic performance since the last economic crisis that affected the country’s image, especially regarding its attractiveness for investors. The Global Competitiveness Index ranks Spain 34^th. This is one position lower than the previous year but similar to its performance in earlier years: it ranked 36^th in both 2012 and 2013.

The Ease of Doing Business study places Spain in the 30^th position. The country ranks high in some categories, such as resolving insolvency or trading across borders. However, it shows a poor performance in areas such as starting a business, getting credit, or dealing with permits.

How Attractive for Talent?

Spain, classified as a high-income country within the European regional group, currently holds the 29^th position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. Notably, it performs most remarkably in the Retain pillar, where it holds the 17^th position, while its main challenge is the Vocational and Technical Skills pillar, where it ranked 63^rd.

The Expat Insider 2023 ranks Spain in 2^nd position out of 53 countries, below Mexico. Spain’s most remarkable factors include the Quality of Life metric, where it leads, and the Leisure Options and Culture and Welcome metrics, where the country ranked 2^nd.

Appeal to Investors, Trade, and Travel

As per the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2023, Spain secures the 12^th position for FDI inflows in 2022, trailing behind France (10^th) and Mexico (11^th). This marks an impressive jump from its 2021 ranking, where the country held the 17^th position. In terms of outflows, Spain secured the 13^th position, which is again an impressive improvement from last year’s ranking, where the country was placed 52^nd. This significant jump can be attributed to the increased investment by Spanish MNEs over the 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, Spain placed 8^th behind Italy (7^th) and above Turkey (9^th), a drop of two positions.

Globally, Spain secures the 17^th position, a drop of three positions since the previous report. This drop can be attributed to challenges in forming a stable government.

In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places Spain at the 1^st global position, jumping two positions from the previous ranking. This is significant for the country as it has surpassed the USA, which held the 1^st position for many years. Spain leads in touristic receipts and scored highly for D2 – Digital Demand © and social media presence.

In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, Spain secured the 36^th position, showing consistency with previous rankings. Currently, it sits just behind Indonesia (34^th) and Japan (35^th) while surpassing Kazakhstan (37^th) and Kuwait (38^th). In terms of specific characteristics, Spain’s economic performance jumped three positions to the 32^nd spot in 2023.

According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, Spain belongs to the Moderate Innovators group, along with countries like Estonia, Italy, Portugal, and Slovenia, whereas Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden are Innovation Leaders in the region. Spain’s performance has increased by 9.7 points during the period between 2016 and 2023. Its performance increased most in 2023 due to improved performance in SMEs with product innovations and business process innovations, as well as sales of innovative products. However, its weaknesses are employment in innovative enterprises, business process innovators, R&D expenditure in the business sector, innovation expenditures per employee, and government support for business R&D.

Spain a “Good” Country?

In the CAF World Giving Index 2023, Spain secured the 86^th position. The country’s top performance is in the Helping a Stranger factor, where 55% of its adult population helped a stranger in the last year. This is a significant improvement for Spain, as in last year’s ranking it placed 99^th.

In the Good Country Index, Spain currently holds the 13^th position overall, with notable subfactors as follows: Science & Technology (42^nd), Culture (12^th), International Peace & Security (28^th), World Order (18^th), Planet & Climate (33^rd), Prosperity & Equality (10^th), and Health & Wellbeing (28^th). It’s worth mentioning that in 2022, Spain was ranked 9^th, and in 2021, it held the 10^th position.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, Spain ranked in the blue zone (8-9 range) with a score of 8.07 out of 10. This is higher than Portugal, which scored 7.75, but lower than the United Kingdom, which scored 8.28.

The 2022 Corruption Perception Index ranks Spain 35^th with a score of 60/100, tying with Botswana, Cabo Verde, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Spain’s score has dropped by one position since 2021.

Sustainability Performance

The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks Spain 27^th, sitting between New Zealand (26^th) and the Bahamas (28^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. Spain has experienced a change in score of +7.30.

The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranks Spain in 16^th position, highlighting that it continues to face some challenges. However, the country is on track with the Gender Equality factor.

Peace and Happiness

The Global Peace Index 2023 ranks Spain 32^nd, remaining consistent with last year’s index. Spain sits behind Bulgaria (30^th) and Romania (31^st). It falls under the high sector of the ‘State of Peace’ spectrum as defined by the Institute for Economics & Peace. Spain positioned 23^rd regionally amongst its fellow European countries, led by Iceland and Denmark.

The Institute for Economics & Peace similarly ranks Spain within the medium impact zone in terms of ‘Impact of Terrorism’ in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index. Spain ranks 60^th, sitting between Belgium (59^th) and Austria (61^st).

Meanwhile, the World Happiness Report 2023, which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year average (2020–2022), ranks Spain 32^nd.

Last updated in October 2023. More country profiles here.

Enjoyed our summary of global rankings and indices on Spain’s economic performance, its sustainability, attractiveness for digital nomads, brand strength, and reputation? Thanks for sharing!

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