Israel is now perceived more negatively than any other country in the world, followed by North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran, according to new global polling published by Nira Data as part of its 2026 democracy and country perception research.
The five most positively perceived countries were Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Sweden and Italy.
The findings place Israel at the bottom of the Global Country Perceptions 2026 ranking, a survey of 46,667 respondents assessing how 129 countries and three international organisations are viewed around the world. The ranking was published alongside Nira Data’s 2026 Democracy Perception Index, which surveyed 94,146 respondents across 98 countries on how citizens experience democracy in their own countries.
Israel is globally perceived more negatively than any other country in the world, followed by North Korea. Negative perceptions of the US have also exploded
placing it near the bottom of global perception according to the 2026 Democracy Perception Index.https://t.co/28yiUr8RHN pic.twitter.com/wb0d9DpiTO
