Morocco has ranked 46th globally in Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index for 2022, climbing two spots from last year’s index score.
The newly issued index defines soft power as “a nation’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviors of various actors in the international arena (states, corporations, communities, publics etc.) through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion.”
Morocco is therefore ranked as the 7th most “influential” Middle East North Africa (MENA) country, out of 15 listed nations.
Regionally, Morocco comes after the United Arab Emirates (15th globally), Israel (23rd), Saudi Arabia (24th globally), Egypt (31st) and Kuwait (36th), with a 34.9 score.
Oman (49th), Jordan (56th), Iran (63rd) and Algeria (75th), consecutively tail the Kingdom in MENA, with Sudan ranking last in the region, coming 119th globally.
The United States is leading the global ranking with a 70.7 score, followed by the United Kingdom (64.9), Germany (64.6), China (64.2) and Japan (63.5), who make the top 5 global soft powers for this year.
The report says that the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic “have had a substantial impact on the rankings,” as the US for instance now returns to the top of the 2022 overall index thanks to “significant improvements in Governance and COVID-19 Response scores.”
On the COVID-19 pillar itself, China shows much improvement, as do European countries such as Italy and Spain, with Switzerland scoring highest.
By contrast, Australia and New Zealand “see declines as COVID isolation policies adversely affect international perceptions,” says the report.
15 new countries have been included in this year’s Index, mainly smaller by population, and none are ranked in the top 50. The Maldives, among the new additions, has ranked “impressively” as the highest in its category (52nd).
The report additionally reminds that “the small size of a nation is not a barrier to occupying a strong position in the soft power ranking, as demonstrated by Switzerland, UAE, and other nations that have created positive overall brand perceptions, and worked hard on building their national brand images, mainly through soft power.”
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