THE past few days have been spent passing judgement on 2014. The verdict has been positive. Politicians and commentators have, almost without exception, declared last year a real humdinger for Scotland. The independence referendum energised politics. The Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup were huge successes. The Battle of Bannockburn and the outbreak of the First World War were commemorated with an appropriate mixture of pride and sensitivity. All put Scotland in the spotlight and the country shone on the world stage.
Given that story, it came as something of a surprise to learn that in this annus mirabilis Scotland's global reputation slipped compared with other countries. Quietly, without so much as a press release, the government published a report on Monday which revealed the country's "brand" dropped from 15th in a league table of 50 countries to 17th.
Ministers claimed success - more on that later - but the manner of the report's publication suggests they weren't entirely confident people would believe them. Had Scotland risen up the global rankings, I'm sure we'd have seen a pretty thorough press release. Heck, we might even have had a press conference.
The lack of fuss was all about the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, an annual survey which quizzes 20,000 people in 20 countries about their perceptions of other nations. They are asked about 23 attributes, divided into six broad categories that affect national image: exports, governance, culture, people, tourism and immigration/investment.
Scotland's overall score rose from 60.1 to 61.8 out of 100, though other countries improved by more. Our strongest suit was tourism, where we were ranked 12th, mainly thanks to Scotland's natural beauty which is seen internationally as our best asset (for landscape, we're 7th). Our weakest link was exports, were we were placed 22nd, partly as a result of a weak reputation for science and innovation (we were ranked 24th for that). Scotland's worst score of all was for 'sporting excellence' - a ranking of 28th - but at least we are friendly (13th) and make people feel welcome (9th).
The country that rated Scotland most highly was the UK, though in the year Scots almost voted to leave, it's ranking of 6th out of 50 was down a place. We are also highly regarded in Canada, Australia, South Africa, the United States and France, where folk took quite a shine to us last year, pushing our ranking up from 17th to 12th. The country's reputation was weakest in Egypt, Argentina, Turkey and - despite strenuous government efforts to build cultural and business links - China, which ranked us 23rd (down from 20th).
Just for the record, the country with the strongest international brand was Germany, which ended the USA's six year reign in top spot, thanks to its reputation for good government, business opportunities and, after winning the World Cup, sport. The UK was ranked third.
It would be easy - and you may even feel tempted - to dismiss the findings as the irrelevant views of people a long way away who don't know much about Scotland. But that would miss the point entirely. Discovering what the rest of the world thinks is the whole purpose of the national brands index. The Scottish Government takes it very seriously, acknowledging the importance of the country's reputation when it comes to boosting exports, attracting tourists, workers and students and generating business investment. It also recognises its own "critical" role in shaping how the country is perceived. With that in mind the survey is used to measure one of the government's 50 "national performance indicators," a set of loose targets ranging from "improve children's services" to "widen use of the internet" which is designed to show how the country is getting along. (We're improving in 18 out of the 50 measures, getting worse in six and stagnating in 26, before you ask.)
As a result of the latest nation brands index, a neat, upward-pointing arrow now sits next to the "improve Scotland's reputation" target on the government's national performance web page. Whether it's justified is open to question. Ministers point to Scotland's improved overall score but how much does that really count for if other countries competing for business are improving faster? Asked about the findings this week, Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop insisted 2014 was a "phenomenal year for Scotland's international reputation". It's a pity more people around the world didn't really notice.
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