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BBC poll: for the fourth year in a row Germany is the world’s most popular country
Minister of State Cornelia Pieper today (10 March) commented as follows on the BBC poll published this week on the image and influence of various states in 27 key countries:
“Since the BBC included Germany in this poll, we have regularly got the top rating for our reputation in the world from a representative cross-section of just under 30,000 selected citizens in 27 states. This is a vindication of our efforts over decades to consistently promote civil society exchange across borders.
Not only German foreign policy, but also the vast majority of German society is convinced that dialogue and familiarity are the best ways to strengthen international understanding. With our cultural relations and education policy, our aim is to deliberately promote exchange between civil societies. The current upheaval in the Arab world shows once more how important these political efforts are.”
The BBC Country Rating Poll has been carried out annually since 2005. Germany has been included in the study since 2008. Asked to say whether Germany has a generally positive or negative influence in the world, 62% of those polled in 27 countries in 2011 took a positive view, and 15% a negative. The best ratings came from Italy (89%), France (84%) and South Korea (82%). The poorest ratings came from Pakistan (32%) and India (37%), although our approval rating from both these countries was considerably higher than last year. Overall, more people in each of the countries surveyed gave a positive rather than a negative assessment of Germany’s influence in the world.
