South Korea's nation brand value surpasses Italy to become the world's 9th: report

South Korea is the world's ninth most valuable "nation brand," according to a Brand Finance report. Gettyimagesbank

By Jung Min-ho

South Korea has surpassed Italy to become the world's ninth most valuable “nation brand,” according to the annual

report

by Brand Finance, a brand consultancy in London.

South Korea's brand value, which increased 6.7 percent in the past year, is estimated at $2.13 trillion, followed by Italy ($2.11 trillion), which dropped to 10th from eighth.

With a brand value of $27.715 trillion, the United States retains No. 1 position, followed by China, which had a 40.4 percent surge in its brand value, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.

The world's two largest economies have been in a trade war since July 2018, with tariffs imposed by both sides on billions of dollars' worth of imports and exports.

“Despite this, China's brand value has defied the expectations of a slowdown, benefitting from the glowing success of some of its most dominant and valuable brands, including ICBC, Huawei, and Alibaba,” the report says.

“Behind the U.S., China and Germany, Japan's brand value has increased 26 percent to $4.5 trillion. In spite of predictions that its economy would suffer in the face of a global slowdown, Japan has been able to reap the benefits from its solid consumer spend and high levels of business investment.”

France (sixth), India (seventh) and Canada (eighth) also made it to the top 10.

The report measures the strength and value of the nations' brands based on a royalty relief mechanism used to value the world's largest corporate brands.

Top 10 most valuable nation brands:

1. United States ($27.751 trillion)

2. China ($19.486 trillion)

3. Germany ($4.855 trillion)

4. Japan ($4.533 trillion)

5. United Kingdom ($3.851 trillion)

6. France ($3.097 trillion)

7. India ($2.562 trillion)

8. Canada ($2.183 trillion)

9. South Korea ($2.135 trillion)

10. Italy ($2.110 trillion)