{"id":31852,"date":"2025-02-20T08:31:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T08:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/?post_type=press-release&#038;p=31852"},"modified":"2025-02-20T08:31:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T08:31:03","slug":"germany-surpasses-china-in-global-business-trade-perceptions","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/press-releases\/germany-surpasses-china-in-global-business-trade-perceptions","title":{"rendered":"Germany surpasses China in global Business &amp; Trade perceptions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Germany remains 5<sup>th<\/sup> most powerful Soft Power nation but faces declining Reputation and Influence <\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The US retains top position, but Reputation declines following divisive presidential campaign, and future direction under President Trump looks uncertain<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The UK drops to 3<sup>rd<\/sup> overtaken by China in the sixth annual survey from Brand Finance measuring how nations are perceived around the world<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>20 February 2025, LONDON \u2013 Germany maintains its position in 5<sup>th<\/sup> place <\/strong>with a Global Soft Power Index score of 70.1 out of 100, according to the new iteration of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brandfinance.com\/softpower\">Global Soft Power Index<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brandfinance.com\">Brand Finance<\/a>. Despite this all-time-high score, Germany\u2019s Soft Power continues to experience stagnation, and in several cases, a deterioration in global perceptions. <strong>The United States and China are the most influential Soft Power nations in the <\/strong>world. The UK is ranked 3<sup>rd<\/sup>, followed by Japan (4<sup>th<\/sup>), and Germany (5<sup>th<\/sup>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brand Finance publishes the Global Soft Power Index based on a survey of more than 170,000 respondents from over 100 countries to gather data on global perceptions of all 193 member states of the United Nations. Thanks to the scope of the survey, the Index is the world\u2019s most comprehensive study on perceptions of nation brands, providing an in-depth analysis of the evolving status of Soft Power as nations navigate significant global changes and challenges.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soft Power is defined as a nation's ability to influence the preferences and behaviours of various actors in the international arena (states, corporations, communities, publics, etc.) through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion. Each nation is scored across 55 different metrics to arrive at an overall score out of 100 and ranked in order from 1<sup>st<\/sup> to 193<sup>rd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Germany\u2019s Reputation and Influence have each dropped one rank to 6<sup>th<\/sup>. Key pillars underpinning its Influence \u2013 Governance and Culture &amp; Heritage, have also declined. Governance has fallen three positions to 4<sup>th<\/sup>, with Germany slipping from 3<sup>rd<\/sup> in 2024 to 7<sup>th<\/sup> in 2025 for \u2018politically stable and well-governed\u2019. Culture &amp; Heritage also dropped three places to 10<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these declines, Germany remains a top 10 Soft Power nation across all three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and in seven of eight nation brand attributes. Germany has shown an improvement in the Business &amp; Trade pillar, climbing to 3<sup>rd<\/sup> place globally and surpassing China. It now ranks 2<sup>nd<\/sup> for having a \u2018strong and stable economy\u2019, trailing only Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cristobal Pohle Vazquez, Regional Manager, DACH, Brand Finance <\/strong>commented<strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cThe Global Soft Power Index 2025 underscores the intense competition among the world\u2019s leading Soft Power nations. While Germany continues to see some stagnation, other top-ranked nations are making deliberate efforts to strengthen their Soft Power. To regain ground on the global stage, Germany could benefit from strategically promoting its strengths \u2013 particularly in Business &amp; Trade and International Relations, where it ranks third globally for both pillars.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2025 Index reveals a <strong>growing divergence in Soft Power potential between nations<\/strong>, with stronger ones - like China - advancing faster while weaker ones - like Kiribati - fall further behind. The top 10 gained an average of +0.9 points in their Soft Power scores, while the bottom 10 saw a sharp decline of -3.0 points. The same is true across broader segments - within the top 100, scores rose by +0.3 on average, while the remaining 93 countries declined by -1.2, reflecting a widening gap where gains by leading nations often come at the expense of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Konrad Jagodzinski, Place Branding Director, Brand Finance<\/strong>, commented:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201c<\/em><em>While experts previously posited that all nation brands might experience a gradual score inflation over time, the data now suggests a zero-sum game, with winners and losers. The global public\u2019s capacity to develop familiarity with and admiration for nation brands seems finite, favouring prominent countries and those making deliberate efforts to stand out. Less familiar nations struggle to capture attention and affection in this highly competitive environment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>United States <\/strong>maintains its position at the top of the ranking with an all-time highest Global Soft Power Index score of 79.5 out of 100. Once again, it leads in the Familiarity and Influence Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), three out of eight Soft Power pillars, and ranks highest in 12 out of the 35 nation brand attributes. At the same time, the US\u2019s Reputation has taken a hit, falling four positions to rank 15<sup>th<\/sup> globally, and Governance, a key pillar that underpins a nation\u2019s Reputation, has revealed a notable decline down four spots to 10<sup>th<\/sup>, likely due to internal political tensions and the polarising nature of the presidential campaign, which was underway during the time of polling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the first time, <strong>China has surpassed the UK to rank 2<sup>nd<\/sup><\/strong> with a score of 72.8 out of 100 - its highest ever position. Since 2024, China has recorded statistically significant growth across six of the eight Soft Power pillars, and in two-thirds of measured attributes, stemming from strategic efforts including Belt and Road projects, an increased focus on sustainability, stronger domestic brands, and post-pandemic reopening to visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, the <strong>United Kingdom<\/strong>\u2019s drop to third place behind China reflects a period of stagnation in its nation brand perceptions. While scores remain relatively stable, a lack of progress across key pillars \u2013 especially Business &amp; Trade, down to 6<sup>th<\/sup>, and Governance, down to 3<sup>rd<\/sup>, are an argument that the UK should bolster its Soft Power strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>20 February 2025, LONDON \u2013 Germany maintains its position in 5th place with a Global Soft Power Index score of 70.1 out of 100, according to the new iteration of the Global Soft Power Index by Brand Finance. Despite this all-time-high score, Germany\u2019s Soft Power continues to experience stagnation, and in several cases, a deterioration [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[108,97],"class_list":["post-31852","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-germany","tag-global-soft-power-index"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/31852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31852"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/31852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31865,"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/31852\/revisions\/31865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandfinance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}