New Delhi: Despite slipping by one spot, India still managed to find a spot in 10 most valuable nation brands in the world. As per Brand Finance's annual Nation Brands report which measures countries based on its image and economy as a whole, India bagged 9th position. Last year, India was at the 8th spot. The report highlights that despite its brand value rising 5 per cent from last year, India has slipped one rank for the second consecutive year. In 2017, India's brand value was $2,046 billion which splurged to $2,159 billion in 2018, the report mentioned. India is one of the only two countries in the top 10 to have lost a spot. The other country to slip by a rank is Japan. The United States of America (USA) bagged the top spot and maintained its lead with a brand value of $25,899 billion – a hike of 23 per cent from last year. The economy of US grew at a rapid pace and the growth is also expected to continue in the coming months, the report noted. The country showed growth in all the prime factors of ranking including GDP, consumer sales, construction orders and car output.

The US was followed by China which again came on the second position with a brand value of $12,779 billion, an increase of 25 per cent from last year. Third in the spot was Germany with a brand value of $5,147 billion. UK ($3,750 billion), Japan ($3,598 billion) and France with $3,224 billion of brand value followed the ranking chart, the report added.

Along with Brand Value each country is also given a brand rating. India's brand rating - AA - has not changed despite the change in ranks. India has been overtaken by US, China, Germany, UK, Japan, France, Canada and Italy. Countries such as South Korea, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, UAE, and Singapore were ranked below India.

Here is a list of top 10 most valuable nation brands:

 (Image: Brand Finance)

“As Donald Trump approaches the start of his third year at the White House, in the longer run, negative perceptions of his personal brand have turned out to have little impact on the nation brand as a whole. Rather, the new free-market policies have resonated with business leaders and the economy is growing, driving an improvement in America’s brand strength and brand value alike,” says David Haigh, CEO, Brand Finance.

Brand Finance measures the strength and value of the nation brands of 100 leading countries using a method based on the royalty relief mechanism employed to value the world’s largest companies.