SCOTLAND’s global reputation has grown, an international survey has revealed.
The Nation Brands Index (NBI) asks 60,000 adults from 20 countries what their perceptions are of 60 different nations.
The 2022 poll saw Scotland achieve its highest-ever reported score since the Scottish Government subscribed to the survey in 2008.
The survey scores and ranks countries across six different areas - culture, tourism, governance, immigration and investment, exports, and people.
Scotland’s score jumped from 62.6 out of 100 in 2020, to 65.3 in 2022, with governance and tourism the “most highly regarded dimensions by respondents across the world”, a government analysis of the findings said.
Scotland’s natural beauty was also ranked 7th out of 60 and tourism came in 12th out of 60.
Tourism scored the highest, jumping from 68.7 out of 100 in 2020 to 72.3 in 2022.
And, compared to other participating countries, Scotland ranked highly in key areas including 9th for welcoming people, and 10th for international peace and security and historic buildings and monuments.
For governance, Scotland’s ranking improved from 62.9 in 2020 to 64.9 in 2022, rising from 13th to 11th place.
Overall, Scotland’s rank increased by two places between 2020 and 2022, from 17th to 15th.
The scoring and ranking of overall governance has also improved, increasing from 62.9 in 2020 to 64.9 in 2022 and from 13th to 11th place.
A Scottish Government report analysing the findings said that natural beauty ”continues to be perceived as Scotland's strongest attribute across all dimensions”.
However, it said: “Exports continue to be Scotland's weakest dimension, receiving both the lowest score and the lowest rank.
“This is the only dimension to rank outside the Top 20. 'Contribution to innovation and science' (from the Exports dimension) is Scotland's lowest ranked attribute across the six dimensions.”
“As Scotland's score has increased by 2.7 points from 2020 to 2022, the change is above the 1.0 point threshold for the National Indicator 'Scotland's reputation' indicating that Scotland's reputation is 'improving' internationally.” the report added.
Angus Robertson, Scotland’s Culture Secretary, welcomed the survey’s findings.
He said: “Scotland is blessed with natural beauty, vibrant cities, rich historical sites, white sand beaches and rolling hills, and it is great to see everything we have to offer being recognised by citizens from across the world.
“It is also encouraging to see that governance in Scotland has also scored well internationally which might be due to international interest in forward thinking and outward-looking Scottish Government policies such as the baby box, free period products and our ambitious work to help tackle climate change.
“Despite Scotland’s score improving to its highest since we first subscribed to the survey, we will continue to look at ways we can make things better for the people who live here. It’s been challenging in recent years with the impacts still being suffered from Brexit, the ongoing pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.
“The survey shows some areas that we can work on and the Scottish Government will leave no stone unturned in doing so.”
The survey was conducted by Anholt-Ipsos polling between 5 July and 11 August 2022.
