Press release: Nation Brands Index 2025: Top position for Germany's brand value in European comparison

Frankfurt am Main, 9 October 2025 – Germany once again enjoys an excellent international image. In the Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI) 2025, Germany maintains second place overall among 50 nations worldwide – after Japan and ahead of Canada, Italy and Switzerland. At the same time, Germany – as in previous years – remains the front-runner among the 30 European countries included in the NBI.

For Destination Germany, the stable 10th place in the tourism category compared with 2024 is particularly relevant, as is the improvement in the perception of culture from sixth to third place. Within the evaluation of tourism-related aspects, “historic buildings” and “vibrant cities” continue – as in the previous year – to shape Germany’s positive image.

Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), states: “Against the backdrop of global multilateral crises and conflicts, the consistently strong image of Destination Germany makes an important contribution to successful positioning in the international competition among tourist destinations. This enables us to promote Destination Germany credibly as a quality travel destination – particularly for city and cultural tourism – and to further strengthen the economic value added of inbound tourism, which according to IPK International amounted to €77.7 billion in 2024.”

A special analysis of the NBI commissioned by the GNTB revealed that tourists worldwide primarily associate Destination Germany with brand attributes such as fascinating, exciting and educational, followed by relaxing and romantic. The expectations of international cultural tourists towards Germany are primarily shaped by cultural heritage, local traditions, culinary experiences, impressive architecture, and art/museums/festivals, followed by multicultural events and venues, music performances, street art, and theatre and ballet. This confirms the positioning of the Destination Germany brand as a leading city and cultural tourism destination, as well as the strategic orientation of the GNTB’s worldwide marketing for Germany as a service-oriented quality destination.

Background information:
The Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI) was developed by independent British policy advisor Simon Anholt. Since 2005, the NBI has determined the brand value of 50 leading economic nations through surveys conducted in 20 countries. The index is based on six sub-indices – exports, governance, culture, people, tourism, and immigration/investment – which in turn comprise 23 individual indicators.