Muscat – Oman’s soft power has remained unchanged with Global Soft Power Index 2025 ranking the sultanate 49th, same as 2024.

Now in its sixth iteration, the 2025 edition examines the perceptions of all 193 member states of the United Nations. The index is based on comprehensive fieldwork, with responses gathered from over 170,000 people across more than 100 markets by UK-based Brand Finance – an independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

The United States and China are the most influential soft power nations in the world. The UK is ranked third, followed by Japan (fourth) and Germany (fifth).

In the GCC, UAE is the top ranked country at tenth place, followed by Saudi Arabia (20th), Qatar (22nd), Kuwait (40th) and Bahrain (51st).

Oman has improved its ranking by five places in the ‘Influence’ and ‘Culture and Heritage’ categories to 44th and 70th respectively. In ‘Governance’, Oman’s rank is up two places to 33rd and four places to 39th in ‘Sustainable Future’.

According to the report, after years of soft power gains, Middle Eastern nations lose momentum in 2025. Saudi Arabia has dropped two positions to 20th and Qatar has fallen one spot to 22nd. UAE is an exception, retaining tenth position globally, bolstered by strong perceptions of Influence (eighth), International Relations (ninth) and Business & Trade (tenth).

This year, the UAE rises to second position globally for being ‘easy to do business in and with’ and ranks in the top ten for ‘future growth potential’ and ‘strong and stable economy’, driven by fiscal strength, a positive investment climate and ongoing economic diversification.

The 2025 index reveals a growing divergence in Soft Power potential between nations, with stronger ones – like China – advancing faster while weaker ones – like Kiribati – falling further behind. The top ten gained an average of +0.9 points in their Soft Power scores, while the bottom ten saw a sharp decline of -3.0 points.

Soft Power is defined as a nation’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviours of various actors in the international arena (states, corporations, communities, publics etc) through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion. Each nation is scored across 55 different metrics to arrive at an overall score out of 100 and ranked in order from 1st to 193rd.