Americans rate Australia, Canada, Japan and Italy most positively among 18 G20 countries in a new Pew Research Center survey, while Russia receives by far the coldest rating. China and Saudi Arabia also draw more negative than positive views, according to the national poll released Friday.
Pew surveyed 5,193 U.S. adults Sept. 14-20, ahead of a G20 summit the United States is preparing to host in December. Respondents rated a random selection of four countries on a 0-to-100 scale, with 0 representing the coldest possible view, 50 a neutral view and 100 the warmest.
The highest-rated countries averaged in the mid- to high-60s. Canada averaged 67, and nearly half of respondents asked about it — 48% — gave it a very warm rating, the largest such share in the survey. Japan averaged 65. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Mexico, South Korea and Brazil also received generally positive ratings.
Average ratings for Indonesia, Argentina, South Africa, India and Turkey ranged from 45 to 48. Those countries also drew relatively large shares of neutral responses, a reminder that a middling average does not always mean equal numbers of warm and cold views.
Russia averaged 27, the lowest rating of the 18 countries. About half of respondents asked about Russia, 51%, gave it a very cold rating. China averaged 37 and Saudi Arabia 36. Among those asked about each country, 23% assigned Russia a zero, the coldest possible score, compared with 14% each for China and Saudi Arabia.
Pew grouped scores of 0 to 24 as very cold, 25 to 49 as somewhat cold, 50 as neutral, 51 to 75 as somewhat warm and 76 to 100 as very warm. Its averages exclude respondents who did not answer a country's question. The scale measures respondents' feelings toward countries, not those countries' policies or the level of support for any government.
Party and age differences
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents rated many countries more warmly than Republicans and Republican leaners did. The widest differences included U.S. neighbors: Democrats' average ratings were 19 points higher for Canada and 18 points higher for Mexico.
Pew found Democrats rated Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United Kingdom more warmly than Republicans did. Canada was Democrats' highest-rated country. Republicans placed it below Australia, Japan and Italy.
Russia was the only country Republicans rated more warmly than Democrats, though both groups generally viewed it negatively. Pew said 48% of Republicans and 56% of Democrats gave Russia a very cold rating.
Adults ages 18 to 49 gave China, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey higher average ratings than adults 50 and older. Older adults rated Australia and India more positively. The overall survey does not establish how residents of New York or the Finger Lakes view these countries.
Older adults were also 15 percentage points more likely than younger adults to rate Russia and China very coldly. India showed a different age pattern: 41% of adults under 50 gave it a cold rating, compared with 30% of those 50 and older. Pew said India was the only country surveyed for which younger adults were more likely than older adults to hold a cold view.
Views have changed unevenly
Japan's average rating rose from 57 in 2016 to 65 this year, and Mexico's rose from 50 to 55. China's average rating of 37 is higher than its 2021 low of 28 but remains on the cold side of the scale.
For Japan, the share giving a warm score rose from 44% in 2016 to 65% this year. The increase appeared in both parties and both age groups. For Mexico, the warm share rose from 36% to 47% over the decade, although Democrats remain about twice as likely as Republicans to rate it warmly.
Canada's average fell from 71 in 2018 to 67, a shift Pew said was driven mainly by Republicans, particularly those 50 and older. The United Kingdom fell from 66 in 2016 to 60 this year, while India's average declined from 51 in 2018 to 46. Russia's 27 was broadly unchanged from 2018 but lower than its 2016 rating of 35.
Among Republicans, the share rating Canada warmly fell from 59% in 2018 to 50% now, while the share rating it coldly rose from 15% to 23%. For Republicans 50 and older, the warm share dropped from 61% to 47%; Pew found no significant change among younger Republicans. Democrats' views of Canada did not meaningfully shift.
The United Kingdom's decline was also driven largely by Republicans: their warm share fell from 67% in 2016 to 45% this year. Pew noted that its earlier survey asked about “Britain,” while the latest asked about “the U.K.,” a wording difference to consider when comparing results. Among Republicans, India's cold share rose from 26% in 2021 to 43% this year.
Russia's average rating remained broadly steady since 2018, but its longer-term trend is more negative. The share of Americans giving it a very cold score rose from 35% in 2016 to 51% this year. Pew said that share increased earlier among Democrats and continued rising among Republicans after 2018.
How the survey was conducted
The results come from Pew's American Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel. Of 5,193 completed interviews, 4,917 were conducted online and 276 by live telephone in English and Spanish. Pew weighted the results to reflect the U.S. adult population.
Pew reports a plus-or-minus 1.6 percentage-point margin of sampling error for the full sample, but its methodology notes that each respondent rated only four of the 18 countries. The full-sample margin should not be applied to individual country or subgroup results. The center says question wording and other practical challenges can also affect survey results.
Featured photo: Atlantic Ambience/Pexels, asset 9263510.
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