Ireland has ranked among the top three happiest and most generous countries in the world.Getty Images
Ireland has been ranked among the top three happiest countries and the top three most generous countries in the world in the 2023 Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index (NBI), which measures perceptions of 60 nations around the world.
Ireland is perceived as the third happiest country in the world in 2023, right behind New Zealand and Spain, the annual report found.
Ireland is also perceived as the third most generous country in the world, just behind Canada and New Zealand.
The findings come just a few months after Ireland was ranked 14th in this year's World Happiness Report, and not long after GoFundMe again named Ireland as the most generous country in the world.
Overall, Ireland is ranked 18th in the NBI 2023 Nation Rankings, the same spot it was ranked in 2022.
Northern Ireland, meanwhile, is ranked 25th overall in this year's rankings, a fall of one spot from its 2022 rank.
Japan, Germany, Canada, the UK, and Italy rounded out the top five in this year's NBI Nation Scores and Rankings, while the US is ranked sixth.
Elsewhere, the 2023 Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index (NBI) found that the overall desire to visit and invest in nations declined in 2022 but are back up in 2023.
The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index, conducted annually since 2008, measures the image of 60 nations. In 2023, approximately 60,000 adults ages 18 and up were interviewed between June 27 and August 3 in 20 core panel countries for the NBI.
The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index measures the power and appeal of each country’s “brand image” by examining global perceptions of six indices of a nation’s identity - exports, governance, culture, people, tourism, immigration and investment, and NBI score.
The NBI score is an average of the scores from the six indices. There are between three and five rating questions for each of the indices. Ratings are based on a scale from 1 to 7, with 7 being the highest or best, 1 being the lowest or worst, and 4 being the middle position which is neither positive nor negative.
For 2023, Ireland had an NBI score of 64.66, landing it right between 17th place Austria and 19th place Belgium.
Northern Ireland received an NBI score of 61.62, landing it right after 24th-place South Korea and right ahead of 26th-ranked Singapore.
Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index 2023