Weak perception of country's brand

189th place globally, 13th place in MENA on Nation Brand Perception Index 2011

Lebanon was identified as the 12th worst country in the world in terms of brand perception, according to the Nation Brand Perception Index (NBPI).

The index, published by international firm East West Communications, ranked Lebanon in 189th place among 200 countries and territories with a score of 32.8 points. The index ranked the country in 13th place among 19 Middle Eastern and North African countries. The country ranked ahead of Bahrain, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. It came directly behind Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria.

Lebanon’s ranking regressed by two places down from 186th in the 2010 index. In the 2010 NBPI, Lebanon scored 33.87 points.

The NBPI analyzes global perceptions of a country's brand. It measures the tone with which a country’s brand is mentioned and the frequency of mentions in international media. The number of times a country is mentioned reflects the strength of the brand, but not necessarily its quality.

According to the index, Lebanon was mentioned 29,330 times throughout the year 2011, compared to 37,461 times during the year before. Lebanon came in 51st place globally in terms of the frequency of mentions. The country’s brand was mentioned less frequently than that of Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Syria.