Japan is in second place for the first time, while the UK remains in third, and France moves to fourth place — major gains are in the index’s People and Governance sub-categories. Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup hosts South Korea and Russia improved their images, South Korea most remarkably. The U.S. remains in sixth place.
Analysis of U.S. internet activity between 2016 and 2018 reveals that 64 per cent of U.S. social media mentions relevant to the U.K. were concerned with culture, compared with 18 per cent for politics.