The 2015 Country Reptrak® Survey ranks the 55 largest economies by GDP and looks at both their emotional and rational reputation. The first dimension assesses factors such as esteem, admire, trust and feeling while the second one looks at 3 other criteria; whether the economy is perceived as advanced, the government as effective and the environment as attractive.
With an excellent score of 76.4, Switzerland secures the 4th place behind Canada, Norway and Sweden. The country’s performance is rather steady. Indeed, Switzerland has been in the top 4 for the past 5 years. According to the report, countries with a good reputation welcome more tourists, improve their public diplomacy, increase exports, attract more foreign direct investments as well as knowledge and talent. Switzerland scores the highest in the “invest”, “buy” and “attend/organize events” supportive behaviors.
Almost in synch with Reptrak, Euromoney released its Country Risk Survey for the first half of 2015. The study monitors the political and economic stability of 185 sovereign countries. Results focus foremost on economics, specifically sovereign default risk and/or payment default risk for exporters.
Switzerland is the second least-risky country for investment with a score of 88.7 – a very similar result to the first half of 2014. It seems the Swiss National Bank’s decision earlier this year to decouple the franc from the euro did not have a significant negative impact on Switzerland’s performance.
For more information about the Swiss economy, government and environment, please refer to the Handbook for investors.
