Finland’s brand remains positive, but global views divided

Education, good governance, nature, equality and happiness are themes that Finland is known for worldwide, according to Finland Promotion Board’s publication.

The publication entitled “How the World Views Finland” showed that in 2024, especially Finland’s NATO membership and security policy brought international media coverage, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release on Tuesday.

Despite the challenging global situation, Finland’s country brand has remained largely positive, but differences between countries in attitudes towards Finland have increased.

Finland was mentioned around 300,000 times in the headings of foreign media articles in 2024. The figure is lower than in the two previous years but still considerably higher than the long-term average: before 2022, foreign media articles mentioned Finland in the heading about 200,000 times annually.

Finland’s brand remained stable and mainly positive, which is a significant achievement in the midst of global changes.

However, studies show that the perceptions of countries – including Finland – have become polarised. While countries such as the United States, Germany and Japan view Finland in a more positive light, perceptions in Russia and China, among other countries, have declined.

In the 2020s, Finland has become more widely known and perceptions of Finland have become more positive. In 2024, Finland ranked 16th in the international Anholt Nation Brands Index, which measures perceptions of 50 to 60 countries. In 2023, Finland ranked 15th, whereas in the 2010s Finland’s ranking varied between 18 and 17.

Finland is valued above all for equality, environmental protection and natural beauty.

Perceptions have, however, declined especially in the dimension of export, which is measured by three indicators: science and technology, products and creativity.

While perceptions also declined in the traditionally strong dimension of governance, Finland still ranked sixth.

Regarding perceptions of innovation, Finland is not ranked at the top of the list.

In the past decade, a new theme has been shaping Finland’s country brand alongside governance and education: sustainability.

Finland’s recycling systems, climate solutions, clean energy, waste management, sustainable construction and sustainable tourism, among other themes, attracted media attention.

As in previous years, it was security policy issues that drew most attention to Finland.

Articles about Finland discussed country´s high level of resolve to defend our country, military expertise, NATO exercises and increased security cooperation between the Nordic countries.

One of the main areas of interest was NATO’s new, long eastern border. Damage to the undersea cables in the Baltic Sea was reported worldwide at the end of the year.

Finland was considered to be extremely well prepared for hybrid influence activities and possible attacks on critical infrastructure.

As in previous years, news coverage of Finland was mostly positive, but acts of violence, including a school shooting in Vantaa and stabbings in Oulu, set a grimmer tone.

Some media contrasted the shooting in Vantaa with Finland’s ranking as ‘the happiest country in the world’.

Finns were mentioned hundreds of thousands of times in the foreign media in 2024, especially politicians and athletes, as in previous years. President Alexander Stubb and F1 driver Valtteri Bottas gained the most visibility among politicians and athletes, respectively.

There is low mainstream visibility of Finnish culture worldwide, and perceptions of Finnish culture are lagging behind the general country brand level.

The most visible Finnish cultural figure last year was Eurovision contestant Windows95man, and the year was also exceptionally successful for Finnish conductors.

For example, Sakari Oramo, Klaus Mäkelä, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Tarmo Peltokoski were often covered in the world media.

Nature tourism, Lapland's winter and northern lights are mentioned in travel articles about Finland worldwide year after year.