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Britons' favourite countries have been revealed (and the UK didn't make the top three)

Reflection of mountains in the lake Matheson, New Zealand
New Zealand topped the list of Britons' favourite countries. (Getty)

A list of Britons’ favourite countries has been revealed, and the UK didn’t even make the top three.

According to polling agency YouGov, top spot on the list of preferred destinations went to New Zealand, which 80% of people had a positive opinion of.

Second was Canada, also with an 80% approval rating, and third was Australia, with 79%.

The UK itself took fourth spot, with 78% of people living here having a favourable opinion of their own nation.

"The people are great" was cited as the most common reason for approval of certain nations. (YouGov)
"The people are great" was cited as the most common reason for approval of certain nations. (YouGov)

Seven out of 10 surveyed said they had a positive opinion of New Zealand, Canada and Sweden among others because “the people are great” and they perceived them as “clean”.

Half of people said they liked the Scandinavian nations because they considered them to be “environmentally friendly”.

The worst ranked country was North Korea, which 63% of Britons had a negative view of.

Read more: The countries English holidaymakers can travel to without having to quarantine

Syria was second on the lowest rated countries, on 61%, with Iraq in third, on 56%, and Iran fourth, with just 54%.

Despite the “special relationship”, the USA ranks 34th, with only 44% of Brits having a positive view of the country, putting it behind countries like Brazil, Singapore, Fiji and Croatia.

The YouGov survey also compiled a list of countries Britons had never heard of, with Nauru being the least well known – just 58% of Britons said they had heard of the Pacific island nation.

Remain and Leave voters had differing opinions on European nations. (YouGov)
Remain and Leave voters had differing opinions on European nations. (YouGov)

A total of 44% of those polled said they had never heard of Lesotho, while 36% said they hadn’t heard of Myanmar (Burma).

People who voted Remain and Leave in the 2016 referendum on EU membership also had differing opinions on a range of nations.

Those who voted to stay in the EU were found to be more in favour of European nations like France, Germany and Ireland, while those who voted Leave were more positive about the US, the UK, Israel and Australia, among other countries outside the bloc.

Britain’s top 10 favourite countries:

  1. New Zealand

  2. Canada

  3. Australia

  4. UK

  5. Spain

  6. Italy

  7. Norway

  8. Sweden

  9. Netherlands

  10. Denmark

Britain’s least favourite countries:

  1. North Korea

  2. Syria

  3. Iraq

  4. Iran

  5. Afghanistan

  6. Saudi Arabia

  7. Libya

  8. Russia

  9. China

  10. Somalia

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