Germany Is The Most Beloved Country Worldwide

Despite all the turmoil this year about traveling in Europe, this is still being a great year for Germany in terms of world recognition.

At the beginning of the year, Germany was named as one of the top four countries in which to live. Now, an annual poll by the BBC shows that not only is Germany a great place to live, it is also a well-loved country.

In fact, Germany is now the world’s most lovable country, according to 29,997 people surveyed worldwide!

The BBC World Service poll ran from November of 2009 to February of 2010. It has been conducted annually since 2005, and surveys opinions about a country’s positive or negative attributes in the world.

Germany was actually also the most favorably viewed country in 2009 as well, but this year Germany’s positivity ratings are up by 18%! It is one of the largest gains in the history of the poll, and I would like to think that MyGermanCity.com has a little something to do with those numbers ;-)

Of course, the negativity percentages are also important to watch. This is especially true for we Germans, as we are a little sensitive about the issue of other countries having a negative opinion of us. Fortunately, only 14% of the world views Germany negatively, one of the lowest numbers of any country in the world.

Tellingly, some of our biggest boosters were not just other Europeans. The positive views of Germany went up the most significantly in Egypt and Chile, with Russia showing the third largest positive increase. This helps speak to Germany’s popularity across markets and even with countries who are not our primary neighbors or trading partners.

Though naturally I am most excited about Germany’s results, I don’t have room to share them all here in this blog post.

You can download the full BBC Poll report (PDF format, opens in a new browser window), or simply come to Germany in person to see for yourself just what a lovely country and folks we truly are! ;-)

—Marcus