Spain has strengthened its position among the countries with the best reputation globally in 2026, a year marked by a generalized deterioration of the international image of major economies, according to the RepCore Nations 2026 report prepared by Reputation Lab.
The data was released this Tuesday at the Cupra City Garage in Madrid, at an event promoted by the Forum of Renowned Spanish Brands (FMRE) and Reputation Lab, with the support of Next Educación, where it was highlighted that Spain shows "greater resilience" compared to the average of the world's leading economies.
The study confirms that the average reputation of the 60 largest economies in the world has fallen by 0.9 points in 2026. Of these 60 countries, 43 have seen their reputational index worsen, three have kept it unchanged, and only 14 have registered an improvement.
Within this global picture, Japan has climbed seven places to become, for the first time, the country with the "best reputation in the world." At the opposite end, Israel has suffered the biggest setback in the reputation index, while the United States and China maintain a "weak reputation."
In Spain's case, its "solid" reputation is based on an "extraordinarily consistent" rational profile, with scores above the average of the 60 major economies in the 22 attributes considered by the RepCore Nations model, "a result that very few countries achieve."
Among the country's strengths are its lifestyle, leisure, culture, and gastronomy offerings, safety levels, respect for human rights, social welfare, and cultural heritage.
"Spain today has one of the most valuable assets for competing in the global economy: an extraordinarily solid international reputation," stated Fernando Prado, partner at Reputation Lab, who insisted on the need to preserve this asset and transform it into a "competitive advantage."
The major innovation of RepCore Nations 2026 is the inclusion of the 'Made in Score', an indicator designed by Reputation Lab to quantify the value that the country of origin adds to products and services.
The results show a "very high" correlation between a country's reputation and the value that its origin confers on companies, brands, and products.
Regarding Spain, the value associated with the Spain origin is below what would be expected for a country with such a robust international reputation. Therefore, improving the perception of the quality of products and services and positioning Spain as a technologically advanced country presents itself as one of the "main opportunities" to increase the value of the Spain origin.