The Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands are now worth a combined $13.1 trillion, up 22% year on year, as AI driven experiences transform how people discover, choose and remain loyal to brands.
The acceleration of AI has pushed the entry threshold for the Global Top 100 to its highest level ever, intensifying competition among brands at the top. Yet Kantar BrandZ analysis reinforces a consistent truth: in markets defined by speed and fragmentation, the brands that win are those that remain Meaningfully Different at every touchpoint.
Highlights from the ranking, which is based on the opinions of 4.6 million respondents about 22,392 brands across 545 categories, include:
- Google is crowned as the world’s most valuable brand for the first time since 2018, rising 57% to $1.5tn, powered by the integration of Gemini across its ecosystem, agentic features in Search and continued investment in data centres
- In a historic first, three brands have simultaneously broken the trillion-dollar threshold: Google ($1.5tn), Microsoft (No.3: $1.1tn) and Amazon (No.4: $1.0tn)
- AI-native brands are breaking through faster than ever, with Claude debuting in the Global Top 100 at No.27 with a brand value of $96.6bn, while ChatGPT records the highest year-on-year increase in the ranking, up 285%
- Chinese brands continue to build global influence, with strong growth from Agricultural Bank of China (+54%), Alibaba (+51%), ICBC (+49%), Xiaomi (+48%), Tencent (+45%) and Ping An (+41%)
- Europe’s cohort grows more steadily, with the average European brand up 14%; SAP (+6%), Siemens (+68%) and Booking.com (+33%) show that European tech-led brands can outperform on momentum even in tougher market conditions.
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Explore the Global Top 100
This year sees three new entrants, led by Claude, alongside four re entries, including HSBC and TD Bank. From YouTube and Siemens to Xiaomi and Walmart, many of the fastest rising brands are building on momentum established in previous years of brand value growth. There are also notable comeback stories, with brands such as Intel and Samsung demonstrating how renewed clarity, relevance and investment can reignite growth.
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Strengthening consumer connections
Kantar BrandZ’s Meaningful Model explains how brands drive growth by building deep connections with people. The strongest brands are not only functional; they are emotionally relevant, trusted, instinctively chosen, and talked about. By strengthening Meaning, alongside Difference and Salience, brands are more likely to grow brand value and outperform the market. Read more in the report.
Identifying your Chief Marketing Objective
The BrandZ Chief Marketing Objectives framework helps marketers focus on the single most important priority for growth. Using evidence from thousands of brands, it identifies where to act first, whether fixing fundamentals, accelerating momentum, or finding new space. The result: clearer focus, better decisions, and stronger growth outcomes. Explore the full framework in the report.
Insights from Brand Builders
Watch exclusive interviews with global brand leaders
Asmita Dubey
Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, L'Oréal
Brett Hannath
Chief Marketing Officer, Intel
Don McGuire
EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Qualcomm Inc.
Drew Panayiotou
Chief Marketing Officer, Keurig Dr Pepper
Mark Weinstein
Chief Marketing Officer, Hilton
Michael Manske
Chief Brand, Marketing and Comms Officer, Polestar
Zhou Yunjie
Chairman and CEO, Haier Group
Esi Eggleston Bracey
Marketing Leader
Jonathan Adashek
SVP, Marketing and Comms, IBM
Methodology
To be eligible for entry into BrandZ’s rankings, brands must be owned by a company listed on a stock exchange, or by a private company with its financials available in the public domain. Unique among brand valuation methodologies, Kantar BrandZ combines financial analysis with extensive measures of brand equity. Learn more about the methodology behind Kantar BrandZ brand valuation rankings in this video.
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What are the most valuable global brands?
The Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands for 2026 are:No.1 Google - $1.5tn
No.2 Apple - $1.4tn
No.3 Microsoft - $1.1tn
No.4 Amazon - $1.0tn
No.5 NVIDIA - $814.9bn
No.6 Facebook - $366.6bn
No.7 Instagram - $286.2bn
No.8 Tencent - $251.6bn
No.9 Oracle - $235.8bn
No.10 McDonald's - $235.1bn
How can I measure brand value?
Kantar BrandZ measures brand value using a unique, consumer-centric methodology that combines:Financial Value – Derived from corporate earnings and the proportion attributable to intangible brand assets.
Brand Contribution – The proportion of financial value driven by brand equity alone, based on:
Demand Power (current demand)
Pricing Power (ability to command a premium)
Future Power (potential for future growth)
This approach is powered by over 4.6 million consumer interviews across 54 markets. Kantar’s Meaningful Different and Salient framework is endorsed by the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB).
What have been the biggest factors impacting brand performance in 2026?
AI has driven one of the most profound shifts in brand value ever recorded, pushing the combined value of the Global Top 100 up 22% year on year. The brands outperforming the market are those using AI to deliver new value: quickly and confidently connecting how people engage with a brand to the choices that shape their business. The global rise of Asian brands is another defining theme. Chinese brands grew by an average of 32% year on year, distinguished by their speed and discipline in acting on consumer signals.How have global conflict and geopolitical uncertainty affected brand value this year?
Periods of uncertainty tend to increase volatility in financial markets, but Kantar BrandZ intelligence shows that brand value can be retained, even in unstable conditions. Brands that stay close to what people need, offer reassurance and deliver clear value are more likely to sustain long‑term brand value when short‑term pressures rise.After reviewing thousands of brand valuations tracked since 2006, we’ve distilled 10 insights to help marketers plan for and overcome volatility and build strong, resilient brands. Download the new report to find all 10 insights, visualised by David McCandless, of Information is Beautiful.
In 2025, the Global Top 100 has reached a record total brand value. This has been driven by tech-enabled disruptor brands, which have delivered most of the increase in value over the past 20 years across all sectors.
Highlights from the ranking, which is based on the opinions of 4.5 million respondents about 22,000 brands across 538 categories, include:
- Apple retains its top position for the fourth year with a brand value of $1.3 trillion, up 28%
- Google (No.2), Microsoft (No.3), Amazon (No.4) and Nvidia (No.5) complete the Top 5
- Nvidia, Huawei, VMware, Xiaomi and Instagram are the top risers, achieving more than 100% brand value growth
- ChatGPT is the highest new entry in the Top 100, followed by Stripe and Chipotle
- Outside the US, Sweden’s Spotify re-enters the Top 100; India’s Airtel is the fastest growing telecom brand in the world; Argentinian retailer Mercado Libre is the only Latin American brand in the
- Top 100 and Canada’s RBC saw the biggest year-on-year brand value growth (43%) of any financial services brand
- Across 13 category rankings, retail continued its post-pandemic surge, with overall brand value growth up 48%.
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The total value of the Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands has risen by 20% in 2024, in a strong turnaround following last year’s stock market-induced swoon.
Highlights from the new brand valuation ranking and report, which is based on the opinions of more than 4.3 million respondents about 21,000 brands across 532 categories, include:
- Apple is the world’s most valuable brand for the third year, and the first brand to surpass a brand value of $1 trillion
- Google (No.2; $753.5bn), Microsoft (No.3; $712.9bn), Amazon (No.4; $576.6bn) and McDonald’s (No.5; $221.9) complete the Top 5
- NVIDIA (No.6; $201.8bn) leaps 18 places and has the highest brand value increase of 178%
- Five newcomers enter the Top 100, including lululemon (No.92; $20.6bn) and Corona (No.100; $19.0bn)
- The Business Technology and Services Platforms category has grown the fastest, increasing in total value by 45%, partly due to excitement around advanced AI
- From across the 13 category rankings, Google Cloud, Booking.com and Chipotle are amongst the fastest risers
Download the 2024 Global Top 100 Infographic
Download the 2024 Global Report Infographic
In every market, in every region, branded businesses continue to chart their course through a new age of disruption and volatility.
And yet, with this volatility comes transformational change. Even after recording a 20% year on year decline for 2023, the $6.9 trillion total value of the world’s top 100 most valuable brands still sits well above the rankings’ 2020 level of almost $5 trillion. And this $6.9 trillion also comes out higher than the value predicted by the rankings’ pre-pandemic growth trajectory.
Highlights from the new brand valuation ranking and report, based on the opinions of more than 4.2 million respondents about 21,000 brands across 540 categories, include:
- Apple remains the number one most valuable global brand, with a brand value of US$880bn, followed by Google (No.2; $578bn) and Microsoft (No.3; $502bn)
- Coca-Cola re-joins the Top 10, rising seven places to No.10 and increasing its brand value by 8%
- 16 brands grew in value with Indian telecom provider, Airtel (No.76; +24%) the fastest riser in the global ranking
- Two Chinese brands join the Global Top 100: Shein (No.70; $24bn) and Nongfu Spring (No.81; $22bn)
- Nine brands returned to the brand ranking, including Pepsi (No.91; $19bn) Colgate (No.95; $18bn) and Pampers (No.100; $17bn)
- Across 13 categories, brands from Food & Beverages, Fast Food and Luxury proved to be the most resilient as they retained the greatest share of 2022 values
Explore how the world’s most valuable brands have faced the challenges of the past year and the opportunities to chart a path to future growth through differentiation, pricing, sustainability and more in the new global report.
Download the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands 2023 report
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The total value of the 2022 Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands has grown by 23% to reach almost $8.7 trillion. This growth is reassuring, considering the backdrop of high inflation and an unpredictable global economy.
Portfolio brands that continue to innovate and diversify their offer continue to grow. Apple is the world’s number one most valuable brand, growing 55% to US$947bn, followed by Google (No.2; $820bn; +78%).
Luxury brands have performed exceptionally well, with Cartier, the fastest-rising brand across all categories, growing its value by 88% to $10bn. Other brands doubling their brand value over the past year include: YouTube (No.24, $86bn), Google (No.2, $819bn), Tesla (No.29, $75bn) and Hermès (No.27, $80bn).
11 new entrants joined the 2022 Global Top 100 ranking, led by Aramco (No.16), Infosys (No.64), Mercado Libre (No.71) and Kuaishou (No.82).
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The total value of the 2021 Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands has grown by 42%, to reach record-setting new heights of over $7 trillion. The accelerated growth of the world’s most valuable brands reflects an impressive rebound from the economic toll of the global pandemic.
Amazon maintained its position as the world’s most valuable brand, growing 64% to US$684bn. Having first entered the ranking in 2006, Amazon’s brand value grew by almost $268bn this year. It became the first half-a-trillion-dollar brand, alongside Apple, at number 2, valued at $612bn.
At number 47, Tesla is the fastest growing brand and it has become the most valuable car brand, growing its value by 275% to $43bn. It has more than doubled its value, alongside Chinese brands: Moutai (no.11, $109bn), Meituan (no.34, $52bn), TikTok (no.45, $44bn) and Pinduoduo (no.81, $22bn).
13 new entrants joined the 2021 global ranking, including Nvidia (no.12, $105bn), Zoom (no.52, $37bn), AMD (no.57, $33bn) and Spotify (no.99, $19bn).
Download the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands 2021 report
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