Of the 13,575 people questioned in 21 countries, a full 62 percent thought that Germany’s influence on world affairs was “rather positive”. This was the best score achieved by the 15 countries included in the survey. Only 15 percent were of the opposite opinion. Germany thus improved its ranking by six points over the previous year.  In none of the countries included in the survey was an overall negative impression of Germany detected.

Second place went to Canada. It received a 57 percent positive ranking with just 14 percent negative. Great Britain came in third. The USA slid into 11th place, near the bottom of the list. 43 percent of survey-takers rated the United States’ influence as “mostly negative”.

The BBC World Service conducts its annual survey of country images in 21 countries.

All results can also be found online at BBC.