Most Countries Took Reputation Hits Due to COVID-19 Restrictions – Poll

MADRID, October 7 (Sputnik) - The world's top economies suffered reputation damage after a year of COVID-19 restrictions, a poll published on Thursday by a Spanish think-tank revealed.

The annual survey was conducted by the Elcano Royal Institute and the US reputation research firm RepTrak across 55 countries in March and April of this year.

It showed that the majority of G8 countries took a reputational hit, although EU heavyweights Germany and France made modest gains.

Topping the ranking of countries that emerged with the best reputation after the pandemic are Canada, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Austria. Germany is 17th, France 18th, the United Kingdom 19th, the United States 35th, China 51st and Russia 52nd.

Carmen Gonzalez Enriquez, a senior analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute, concluded that the top 10 countries were all rich democracies that pursued a policy of non-interventionism.