The perception of instability in the Brazilian political, economic and social environment appears as one of the main factors limiting the improvement of the country’s image abroad and among its citizens. This is what the consultancy survey shows OnStrategy about the image of Brazil in 2026.
of Portuguese consultancy is the largest ever produced on the country’s reputation. They were interviewed by OnStrategy 192,400 Brazilians and 278,200 foreigners online — including citizens, company executives, journalists, influencers and authorities between October 2025 and March 2026.
According to the data, both internal and external audiences negatively evaluate the Brazilian political environment.
For Brazilians, the political, economic and social environment receives the grade 5,5. For foreigners, this scope records 5,2. Metrics range from 0 to 10.
The survey highlights that this is one of the most critical points of the national reputation, ahead only of the safety assessment, which appears as the most negative aspect in the overall view, with a score 5,4 in internal evaluation and 4,4 in external evaluation.
Distrust in leadership
Another relevant data is the low confidence in Brazilian leadersas well as institutional.
The survey shows that, internally, Brazil’s government and leadership receive the grade 5,4. The external assessment is that the topic deserves the grade 5,3.
According to the research, these are the most fragile pillars of Brazil’s image today:
- Admiration and confidence: grade 5.8 internally and 6.2 externally;
- Government and leadership: nscore 5.4 internally and 5.3 externally;
- Political, economic and social environment: nrating 5.5 internally and 5.2 externally.
Moderate overall rating
Despite the negative points, Brazil’s reputation is still considered moderate in the general scenario. Internally, the assessment is slightly better — close to a level classified as “robust” — while abroad it remains more contained.
Among the most cited positive aspects are:
- International notoriety and familiarity: grade 10 internally and 7.8 externally;
- Quality of products and services: grade 7.6 internally and 6.5 externally;
- Beauty, values, culture and traditions: grade 8.9 internally and 8.0 externally;
- International relevance: grade 8.7 internally and 7.9 externally.
Brand Brazil Search on CNN Brasil
The research’s international interviews were carried out with citizens from Mexico, Argentina, USA, Canada, China, Japan, India, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Russia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Austria and Denmark.
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Lisbon, OnStrategy is a multidisciplinary brand value management consultancy, focused on creating, building and optimizing the economic and financial value of businesses and brands.
Throughout this week, the CNN Brazil and their social media profiles published a series of content with details of the research. On TV, the CNN Prime Time aired a series of four thematic episodes that bring new data and developments from the global study.
The special coverage of CNN Brazil concludes on Sunday, May 17, with a live, one-hour program presented by Iuri Pitta e Elisa Veeck. Divided into thematic blocks, the attraction will debate with experts the impacts of these findings on the economy, politics, agribusiness and public security.
