Six Dimensions of the Nation Brands Index 2020

Date published: 11 March 2021

Building on ‘The Anholt Ipsos Nation Brands Index: 2020 report for Northern Ireland’, published in February 2021, these bulletins examine in more detail how Northern Ireland is viewed internationally in relation six dimensions of national competence: Governance; Immigration and Investment; People; Exports; Tourism; and Culture.

Key Findings

In 2020,

• Northern Ireland ranked 20th of 50 countries for the Governance dimension (the same ranking as in all previous survey years). Governance was Northern Ireland’s highest ranked dimension, as was also the case in the previous years. Northern Ireland’s score for Governance was 59.58.
• Northern Ireland ranked 21st of 50 for the Immigration and Investment dimension (unchanged since 2017). Northern Ireland’s score for Immigration and Investment was 56.72.
• Northern Ireland ranked 22nd of 50 for the People dimension (unchanged since 2019). Northern Ireland’s score for People was 63.29.
• Northern Ireland ranked 25th of 50 for the Exports dimension (up one place from 2019). Northern Ireland received its lowest dimension score for Exports (54.48).
• Northern Ireland ranked 27th of 50 for the Tourism dimension (up one place from all previous survey years). Despite the low ranking, Northern Ireland received its highest dimension score for Tourism (64.11); this suggests Tourism is a competitive dimension where many countries receive high scores.
• Northern Ireland ranked 31st of 50 for the Culture dimension (up one place since 2019). Culture was Northern Ireland’s lowest ranked dimension, as was also the case in all previous survey years. Northern Ireland’s score for Culture was 56.78, and was the only dimension where the score increased on our 2019 scores.
• Participants who had visited Northern Ireland (for any reason) consistently scored Northern Ireland significantly higher in each of the six dimensions than participants who had not previously visited.

About the Anholt Ipsos Nation Brands Index 2020

The NBI is an annual global survey which evaluates the international image and reputation of 50 nations across six dimensions of national competence: Exports; Governance; Culture; People; Tourism; and Immigration and Investment.

The 2020 NBI involved the completion of over 20,000 online surveys, in 20 panel countries, with at least 1,000 people surveyed per panel country.

The report, infographics and associated data tables are available on the Statistics and Research section of the Executive Office website