Which Countries Have the Best “Brands”?

Nearly 28,000 residents in 11 countries were asked to nominate the best countries to live in, excluding their own. A third of the respondents (34 percent) picked Australia as a top-three choice, followed by Canada (27 percent) and the U.S. (24 percent).

In a separate question, people were given the chance to include their home country in their wish list of the top three places to live. Australia was once again a standout, with 94 percent of its residents naming their home country as one of the three best places to live. (The vast majority rated it number one.) They were followed by Canadians (84 percent) and Japanese and U.S. residents (each at 81 percent).

The fondness for home was not so strong elsewhere. Only 48 percent of French residents named France as one of the three best countries to live in—but even that was higher than the love-of-home rates among Spanish and Italian residents, at 44 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

The results are part of a wide-ranging survey of global consumer sentiment that BCG conducts regularly.