Switzerland’s reputation slips: survey

The Reputation Institute’s annual survey reveals the most reputable countries based on level of development as well as quality of life and institutions.

Switzerland came fourth in the 2015 rankings, after Canada, Norway and Sweden.

The Institute did not say why Switzerland had dropped from first place to fourth, but until last year Canada had topped the rankings for several years.

Since the survey began in 2010, Switzerland has always taken third or fourth position except for last year when it came top.

The Reputation institute conducted more than 48,000 interviews for the survey to measure the public’s perception of 55 countries based on three dimensions: effective government, appealing environment, and advanced economy.

Countries with strong reputations are perceived positively in all three dimensions, it said in a press release.

The countries with the worst reputation globally were Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.

The United States was not among the top 20, but improved its position over last year.

The Tages-Anzeiger newspaper said the country could take comfort in the fact it recently came out top in the UN World Happiness Report.