United Kingdom – Country Performance, Brand Strength and Reputation

The United Kingdom stands for tradition, innovation, and global influence. The nation’s commitment to technological advancement and financial leadership in institutions like the City of London adds a layer of modernity to its identity. But how does the UK perform in global rankings measuring talent attraction potential, public diplomacy, soft power strength, and sustainability?

Let’s take a closer look at:

• The UK’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

Soft Power and Brand Strength

In the Global Soft Power Index 2023 by Brand Finance, the UK continues to secure the 2nd spot, sitting right behind the United States. Impressively, the UK’s score has shown growth, rising from 64.9 in 2022 to 67.3 this year.

In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, the UK secures the 9^th position, behind Germany (7^th) and New Zealand (8^th). Notably, the UK excels in three key areas: Entrepreneurship (4^th), assessing technological expertise, digital infrastructure, and a skilled labour force; Power (5^th), evaluating military strength, export prowess, and economic influences; and Cultural Influence (6^th), which analyses trendiness, modernity, and strength of consumer brands. However, the UK dropped one position from 2022, with its 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, the UK secures the 4^th position, a jump of two positions since 2022.

How Attractive for Talent?

The UK, classified as a high-income country within the European regional group, currently holds the 10^th position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. Moreover, the UK performs most remarkably in the Grow and GK Skills pillars, where it holds the 2^nd position in both, and its main challenge is VT Skills, where it ranked 29^th.

In terms of education excellence, the UK boasts ten universities within the top 100 worldwide, according to the World University Rankings 2024. These esteemed institutions are: University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London, University of Edinburgh, King’s College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Manchester, University of Bristol, University of Glasgow, and University of Southampton.

The Expat Insider 2023 ranks the UK in 43^rd position out of 53 countries, below Denmark (41^st) and Austria (42^nd). However, the UK ranks 9^th in the Work Satisfaction metric and 10^th in the Career Prospects metric.

Appeal to Investors, Trade, and Travel

As per the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2023, the UK does not rank within the top 20 nations for FDI inflows; however, FDI flows to the United Kingdom rose to $14 billion after a revised -$71 billion in 2021, whilst cross-border M&A sales doubled to $202 billion. In terms of FDI outflows, the UK ranks 5^th in 2022, a slight increase from its 7^th position in 2021.

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, the UK continues to place 1^st; although the slight decrease in Digital Demand – D2 © and online performance, the UK’s success is due to the maintenance of high Net FDI and impressive CBS Rating. Globally, the UK secures the 1^st position, knocking down the long-standing leader, the United States.

In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places the UK at the 5^th global position, dropping one position from the previous ranking. Regionally, the UK now holds the 4^th position, experiencing a drop of two positions, due to Germany’s and Italy’s rise.

In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, the UK secured the 29^th position, showing a slight decrease from the previous rankings—18^th in 2021 and 23^rd in 2022. Currently, it sits just behind Malaysia (27^th) and South Korea (28^th), while surpassing Thailand (30^th) and New Zealand (31^st).

In terms of specific characteristics, the UK’s economic performance dropped twelve positions to the 35^th spot in 2023. It holds the 28^th position for government efficiency, experiencing a drop of two positions compared to 2022. Lastly, the UK dropped six positions to the 34^th position for business efficiency, and holds the 22^nd spot for infrastructure, dropping four positions since 2022.

According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, the UK belongs to the second group, Strong Innovators, whereas Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden are Innovation Leaders in the region. The UK’s performance has increased by 1.6 percentage points during the period between 2016 and 2023. Its strengths are: Foreign doctorate students, Public-private co-publications, Innovative SMEs collaborating with others, Doctorate graduates, and Job-to-job mobility of HRST. Its weaknesses are: Business process innovators, Broadband penetration, Design applications, R&D expenditures in the public sector, and Medium and high-tech goods exports.

Is the UK a “Good” Country?

In the CAF World Giving Index 2023, the UK secured the 17^th position, maintaining the previous year’s ranking. Notably, the UK performs most admirably in the subfactor of donating money, where 71% of its adult population donated money in the past year.

In the Good Country Index, the UK currently holds the 14^th position overall, with notable subfactors as follows: Science & Technology (3^rd), Culture (23^rd), International Peace & Security (85^th), World Order (11^th), Planet & Climate (39^th), Prosperity & Equality (13^th), and Health & Well-being (3^rd). It’s worth mentioning that in 2022, the UK was ranked 8^th, and in 2021, it held the 15^th position. While the country has experienced a six-point drop since the 2022 ranking, there has been a significant increase in the Prosperity and Equality factor as well as the Health and Well-being factor.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, the UK ranked in the blue zone (8-9 range) with a score of 8.28 out of 10. This is higher than France, which scored 8.07, and Portugal, which scored 7.89, but lower than Canada and Germany, which scored 8.88 and 8.28.

The 2022 Corruption Perception Index ranks the UK 18^th with a score of 73/100, tying with Belgium and Japan. The UK’s score has dropped by five points since 2021.

Sustainability

The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranks the UK in 11^th position. It highlights that although the UK ranks quite high, it continues to face some significant and major challenges. However, the Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure factor has achieved the status of SDG achievement with a continuous moderate increase. The UK is also on track for the Decent Work and Economic Growth factors.

The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks the UK 2^nd, right below Denmark. 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. The UK has experienced a change in score of positive 23.

Peace and Happiness

The Global Peace Index 2023 ranks the UK 37^th, dropping one position from last year’s index. The UK sits behind Kuwait (35^th) and Lithuania (36^th). It falls under the High sector of the ‘State of Peace’ spectrum as defined by the Institute for Economics & Peace. The UK positioned 26^th regionally amongst its fellow European countries, led by Iceland and Denmark.

The Institute for Economics & Peace similarly ranks the UK within the Medium Impact (Light Orange) zone in terms of ‘Impact of Terrorism’ in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index. The UK ranks 42^nd, sitting between Peru (41^st) and Bangladesh (43^rd).

Meanwhile, the World Happiness Report 2023, which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year average from 2020–2022, ranks the UK 19^th.

Last updated in October 2023. More country profiles here.

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