Turkey was, for a long time, one of the world’s leading countries in vacation tourism, attracting millions of visitors a year eager to discover the country’s fascinating history and beautiful beaches. Have recent years’ political instability and terror attacks had a negative influence on Turkey’s reputation and attractiveness? What do international rankings say about Turkey’s economic and environmental performance?
Let’s explore how Turkey shapes its distinctive narrative on the world stage, drawing insights from data provided by TPBO partners and other reputable institutions.
Let’s take a closer look at:
- Turkey’s soft power and brand strength
- Its appeal to skilled labor, investors and visitors
- The country’s global contribution to peace and wellbeing
- How well it fares in terms of happiness and sustainability
Turkey’s soft power and brand strength
How does Turkey compare in terms of reputation and brand value globally?
In the Global Soft Power Index 2023 by Brand Finance, Turkey secures the 23rd spot, sitting behind Singapore (21st) and Finland (22nd). Although Turkey’s score has shown growth, rising from 47.8 in 2022 to 50.4 this year, it dropped one position from last year’s index.
In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, Turkey secures the 32nd position, behind India (30th) and Saudi Arabia (31st). Notably, Turkey excels in one key area: heritage (8th) assessing cultural accessibility, richness of history, food quality and geographic/cultural attractions. However, Turkey dropped two positions from 2022, with lowest scores in social purpose 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, and tourism. According to the NBI 2023 ranking Turkey secures the 37th position, a drop of one place since 2022.
Turkey’s environmental performance
How well is Turkey doing in terms of environmental sustainability?
The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks Turkey 172nd, sitting between Sudan (171st) and Haiti (113th). The EPI analyzes 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. Turkey has experienced a change in score of negative 0.5.
Appeal to digital nomads, business, trade and travel
What is the global perception of Turkey as a destination for living, conducting business, and tourism?
The Expat Insider 2023 ranks Turkey in 51st position out of 53 countries, below Germany (49th) and South Korea (50th). Turkey ranks best in the Leisure Options metric, placing 23rd.
The Bloom Consulting biannual Country Brand Ranking Trade Edition 2022-2023 assesses investment-related variables, emphasizing perceptions of a country’s trade-specific brand and evaluating branding performance. Regionally, Turkey continues to place 9th behind Italy (7th) and Spain (8th). Globally, Turkey dropped one position and now holds the 20th position.
In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places Turkey at the 11th global position, placing one position higher than the previous ranking. Regionally, Turkey continues to hold the 6th position.
In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, Turkey secured the 47th position, showing a jump of five positions from the 2022 ranking. Currently, it sits just behind Croatia (45th) and Hungary (46th) while surpassing Romania (48th) and Greece (49th).
In terms of specific characteristics, Turkey’s economic performance dropped six positions to the 43rd spot in 2023. It holds the 57th position for government efficiency, experiencing an increase of one position compared to 2022. Lastly, Turkey jumped eleven positions to the 44th position for business efficiency, and holds the 48th spot for infrastructure, an increase of two positions since 2022.
According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, Turkey belongs to the last group, Emerging Innovators, alongside Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. Turkey’s performance has increased by 0.4% points during the period between 2016 and 2023. Its strengths are: Government support for business R&D, Job-to-job mobility of HRST, Sales of innovative products, Most cited publications, and Knowledge-intensive services exports. While its weaknesses are: Employed ICT specialists, Design applications, Employment in knowledge-intensive activities, International scientific co-publications, and Public-private co-publications.
Peace and happiness in Turkey
Is Turkey a happy and safe place to invest time and money in?
The Global Peace Index 2023 ranks Turkey 147th, jumping five positions from last years’ index. Turkey sits behind Myanmar (145th) and Pakistan (146th). Turkey falls under the low sector of the ‘State of Peace’ spectrum as defined by the Institute for Economics & Peace. Turkey positioned last regionally amongst its fellow European countries, led by Iceland and Denmark.
The Institute for Economics & Peace similarly ranks Turkey within the high impact (dark orange) zone in terms of ‘Impact of Terrorism’ in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index. Turkey ranks 23rd, sitting in between Yemen (22nd) and Indonesia (24th).
Meanwhile, the World Happiness Report 2023 which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year-average 2020–2022 ranks Turkey 106th; this ranking is only based on 2020 and 2021 average, no data was collected for 2022.
Turkey a Good Country?
Good Country Index
In the Caf World Giving Index 2023, Turkey secured the 126th position, showcasing a drastic drop of 63 positions from the previous year. Notably, Turkey performs most admirably in the subfactor of helping a stranger where 54% of its adult population helped a stranger in the past year.
In the Good Country Index, Turkey currently holds the 53rd position overall, with notable subfactors as follows: Science & Technology (41st), Culture (81st), International Peace & Security (124th), World Order (52nd), Planet & Climate (74th), Prosperity & Equality (39th), and Health & Wellbeing (59th). It’s worth mentioning that in 2022, Turkey was ranked 56th, and in 2021, it held the 59th position, showcasing a general upward trend for the country. The factors which have shown the most significant growth are, Prosperity and Equality and Culture.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, Turkey ranked in the light orange zone (4-5 range) with a 4.35 out of 10.
The 2022 Corruption Perception Index, ranks Turkey 101st with a score of 36/100, tying with Albania, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Turkey’s score has decreased by two since 2021.
The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranks Turkey in 72nd position, it highlights that the country continues to face significant and major challenges. However, No Poverty and Quality Education goals are on track.
Talent and competitiveness in Turkey
How is Turkey’s performance in attracting and retaining talent?
The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index 2019 edition placed Turkey at the 61st position among 141 countries. However, it’s important to note that an updated version of this report hasn’t been released in the past 5 years, and rankings may have shifted since then.
Turkey, classified as a upper-middle income country within the Northern Africa and Western Asia regional group, currently holds the 81st position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. Notably, Turkey performs most remarkably in the Grow pillar where it holds the 50th position and its main challenge is the Attract pillar where it ranked 107th.
Last updated in November 2023. More country profiles here.
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