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The team at TradingPedia has analyzed the biggest companies in leading markets, including the United States, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom. They identified the largest brands in 45 countries, based on their value, and created a map visualizing the global top brands in 2023.
The world’s most valuable brand in 2023 is Amazon, which began as an online bookstore in the 1990s and has grown to be the largest retailer on the Internet. Despite losing $51 billion in value since 2022, Amazon remains the biggest brand globally, with an estimated value of $299.28 billion. It surpasses last year’s leader, Apple, which now has a value of $297.51 billion after a 16% decrease. Google ranks third, increasing its value by nearly $18 billion since 2022 to $281.38 billion.
Seven of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world are American. Microsoft ($191.57 billion) and Walmart ($113.78 billion) occupy the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Verizon (8th place, $67.44 billion) and Tesla (9th place, $66.21 billion) are also in the top 10.
The most valuable non-U.S. brand is South Korea’s Samsung Group, in 6th place, with an estimated value of $99.66 billion in 2023. China’s ICBC, the state-owned commercial bank, ranks next at $69.54 billion. TikTok/Douyin, the Chinese social media company, has rapidly risen to the 10th place with a value of $65.7 billion.
In Europe, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom ranks 11th globally and 1st in Europe, with a brand value of $62.63 billion. Japan’s Toyota is 19th worldwide, valued at $52.49 billion. Other notable brands include the UK’s Shell ($48.21 billion), the Netherlands’ ING ($9.71 billion), France’s Louis Vuitton ($26.29 billion), and Switzerland’s Nestle ($22.43 billion).
Canada’s top brand is TD Bank, valued at $20.4 billion, while Brazil’s Itau leads with $8.72 billion. Australia’s Woolworths is valued at $10.89 billion.
Countries with Brands in the Top 500
Only 30 countries have brands in the global top 500 list. Nearly half of these (14) are European. The nations represented in North America are the United States, Canada, and Mexico. South America is represented by Brazil. The Middle East has Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Asia is represented by South Korea, China, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. Oceania is represented by Australia.
Europe has 14 countries in the top 500 brands list: Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Austria, and Belgium. However, no African countries have a brand in the top 500.
Only 20 countries have more than 3 brands in the top 500: the United States, South Korea, China, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Canada, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Russia, the UAE, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil, and the Netherlands.
Concentration of Major Brands
The top 500 brands are concentrated in relatively few countries, with 202 of the top 500 brands in the U.S. and 79 in China. More than half of the top 100 brands are American (53), and 22 are Chinese. Germany has 7 brands in the top 100, followed by Japan with 6, South Korea with 4, and the United Kingdom with 3.
The U.S. dominates the top 20 brands, with ten American brands and six Chinese brands. Most of the top 20 brands have decreased in value since 2022. Facebook has lost the most value, dropping from $101.2 billion in 2022 to $58.97 billion in 2023. In contrast, Tesla has grown by 43.9% to $66.21 billion. Starbucks and TikTok are also on the rise, with Starbucks increasing by 16.92% to $53.43 billion and TikTok by 11.39% to $65.7 billion.
Leading Industries
The banking industry dominates the top 500 global brands, with 14.2% of all brands being banking and financial services companies. Retail accounts for 10%. Technology, engineering, construction, and telecoms are also significant. In terms of value, technology and retail are on top, contributing 13.4% and 13.2% of the total value of the top 500 companies, respectively.
Methodology Behind the Rankings
TradingPedia based its research on Brand Finance’s annual report on the top 500 global brands. Brand Finance uses the Royalty Relief method to calculate brand value, determining what a company would pay to license its brand if it did not own it. The team compiled data from Brand Finance’s reports and analyzed it to find the top brands in each country and industry.
Final Thoughts
It appears that not every country can produce a major brand, with larger economies typically having an advantage. Nevertheless, brands emerge from all corners of the globe, and sometimes, against the odds, smaller economies create some of the world’s most recognizable brands. For instance, Finland is known for its Nokia phones, and Mexico for its Corona beer.
Does Apple count as a retail brand?
– Most brands are domestic
– Few have been able to cross borders
– Retail is hamstrung by culture and language