A country with a good reputation can attract more tourists, improve diplomacy, increase exports, and draw in FDI, foreign expertise and talent.

The Reputation Institute, the world's leading reputation-based research advisory firm, has published the results of its 2015 Country Reptrak Survey, which compares the reputations of countries whose GDP ranks among the top 55 in the world.

Thanks to its uncorrupt government, strong social welfare system, favorable business environment, rich tourism resources and friendly citizens, Canada took first place in the ranking, recovering the leading spot it held from 2011 to 2013. Norway and Sweden came in second and third, respectively. Iran and Iraq were at the bottom of the list due to the turmoil in both countries.

The RepTrack Survey – now in its sixth year – measures levels of trust, esteem, admiration and respect for countries based on the results of online survey responses from more than 48,000 people from G8 countries. The data was collected in February and March 2015.

To better understand why respondents gave these answers, the survey also asked their opinions of how well countries demonstrated 16 attributes, including whether a country is safe to visit, is beautiful, has friendly and welcoming residents, has progressive social and economic policies and is run by an effective government.

The following are the top 10 most reputable countries in 2015.

 Belgium

Belgium [China.org.cn]

Score: 72.3

Ranking in 2014: No. 12