South Africa’s placing in the Global Soft Power Index slips

South Africa has dropped three places, falling to a record low of 43rd, in Brand Finance’s 2024 Global Soft Power Index, indicating that the country has struggled to fulfil its soft power potential. The US and the UK are the most influential soft power nations in the world. China is ranked third, surpassing Japan and Germany.

Soft power is defined as a nation’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviours of various actors in the international arena — including states, corporations, communities and publics — through attraction and persuasion rather than by coercion.

Brand Finance publishes the index, which is based on a survey of more than 170,000 respondents from over 100 countries. The research gathers data about global perceptions of all 193 UN member states. Thanks to the scope of the survey, the index is the world’s most comprehensive study of perceptions of nation brands. It provides an in-depth analysis of the evolving status of soft power as nations navigate significant global changes and challenges. Each nation is scored across 55 different metrics to arrive at an overall score out of 100, and is ranked in order from first to 193rd.

The report has found that at a time of global uncertainty and instability, economic credentials are increasingly important contributors to a nation’s soft power. Nation brand attributes such as “strong and stable economy” and “products and brands the world loves” emerge as important drivers of influence and reputation on the global stage.

This trend explains the continued dominance of the world’s largest economies like the US and China as well as smaller developed economies like Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates at the top of the ranking. Dominant nation brands are recording faster soft power growth (average +3.1 points in the top 50) than the rest of the ranking (average -1.3 for those ranked 51-193).

The US leads the rankings with a record highest Global Soft Power Index score of 78.8, an increase from 74.8 in 2023, and earning the top spot for Familiarity and Influence, four out of the eight soft power pillars and nine out of the 35 nation brand attributes, including “leader in science,” “influential in arts and entertainment”, “internationally admired leaders”, “helpful to countries in need” and “supports global efforts to counter climate change”.

However, internal security challenges relating to gun violence and police brutality as well as involvement in international conflicts seem to be undermining some of its nation brand perceptions, as evidenced by continued rank declines on “great place to visit”, “good relations with other countries” “safe and secure” and “friendly”, where the US has dropped a further nine places to 112th.

The UK has overcome a soft power risk from temporary instability in late 2022 resulting from tumultuous government changes and the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. This year, the UK ranks seventh in “strong and stable economy”, compared with last year’s 12th, and improves on “politically stable and well governed”, up to 12th from last year’s 16th. The nation’s score of 71.8 continues an upward trend from 67.3 in the previous year. As in the US, the UK is set for a general election this year, and it will be interesting to see how the results affect its soft power.

China replaces Germany in third position in the soft power rankings, improving its overall score by +6.2, from 65.0 to 71.2 — faster than any other nation brand in the index this year. This rise is driven by a significant improvement in China’s perceptions across important Business & Trade and Education & Science metrics.

Germany fell to fifth position, after earning the top ranking in 2021 and third place in both 2022 and 2023. The country has experienced stagnation and in many cases erosion in perceptions across the board this year, with a substantial drop of 14 positions in “good relations with other countries” compared with 2023, along with decreases in “helpful to countries in need” and measures of trustworthiness. But Germany achieved the top ranking in Governance and, despite some score declines, remains among the leaders in the pursuit of a Sustainable Future.

South Africa ranks relatively high in Familiarity and Influence, but lower for Reputation in this year’s index.

Brand Finance Africa chair Jeremy Sampson points out that the rankings cover the entire world, a reminder that South Africa is not an island.

“In the immediate post-apartheid period, South Africa enjoyed robust soft power, using our attractive qualities and [aspects] such as our culture, values and policies, to influence the behaviour of other states. Our credibility has slid in recent years, and this research shows that we are struggling to fulfil our soft power potential. This study was conducted at the end of last year — it will be interesting to see how, as an example, our recent case at the International Court of Justice will influence the outcomes of next years’ study.

“There is much work to be done to change the negative international sentiment prevalent in some areas. Our leaders need to become more aware of how soft power, or the lack of it, directly affects their impact on the world stage and how that in turn [influences] perceptions and the economic fortunes of our country. While stronger economic credentials would certainly help, a more focused investment in other areas like international relations may also bring positive effects,” he says.

Russia, Ukraine, and Israel have all ranked lower this year as respondents appear to downgrade countries engaged in military action. Russia continues to fall in soft power rankings, down three places to a record low of 16th. While Ukraine is down seven places to 44th, the nation continues to be ranked higher than at any time before Russia invaded. Israel has fallen five ranks to a record low ranking of 32nd.

Brand Finance chair and CEO David Haigh says: “Our research shows that world opinion of individual countries and their actions differs widely, as demonstrated by the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine. This fractured perception can be traced to a lack of free and fair media and communication, resulting in opinions that are formed based on biased or partial knowledge. The World Economic Forum identifies misinformation and disinformation as the biggest threat to world peace.

“While global hard power expenditure was a record $2.2 trillion in 2023 and expected to rise in 2024, we estimate that the combined spending by nation brands on communications is less than $bn. Given the dramatic difference in investment, it is unsurprising that hard power has been dominating soft power.”

Brand Finances results show that an intentional approach strengthens soft power. The greatest improvements in the ranking over the past five iterations of the Global Soft Power Index have been recorded by the United Arab Emirates (+13.8 points and eight ranks, to 10th), Saudi Arabia (+14.1 and eight ranks, to 18th), Qatar (+16.0 and 10 ranks, to 21st), and Türkiye (+14.3 and five ranks, to 25th).

All are characterised by conscious efforts to grow their soft power through nation-branding projects, diplomatic initiatives and major event hosting. The Gulf nations are showing enhanced Influence and Reputation as well as strengthening their International Relations and Business and Trade credentials, with the United Arab Emirates receiving 10/10 marks and the top position globally for the important “strong and stable economy” attribute this year.

The big take-out: Nation-brand attributes such as “strong and stable economy” and “products and brands the world loves” emerge as important drivers of influence and reputation on the global stage.