Brand value can be a critical part of any company’s intangible assets.
These kind of non-physical assets, such as patents and brand names, are having an increasing influence on a company’s overall value. A 2020 analysis found that intangibles made up 90% of the S&P 500’s market value, an increase of 22 percentage points since 1995.
In the infographic below, Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld shows the world’s 100 most valuable brands in 2023 based on an annual ranking from Brand Finance, illustrating the role brand equity plays in a company’s market position.
Brand Finance examined over 5,000 companies (and in cases of groups like Alphabet and Meta, their subsidiary brands) across 38 countries.
Broadly speaking, a brand’s value represents the allocation of company earnings that are linked to the brand. More details on the methodology are found at the end of this article.
Here are the most valuable brands in 2023:
| Rank | Brand | Brand Value (B) | Country | Sector |
|---|
| 1 | Amazon | $299.3 | U.S. | Retail |
| 2 | Apple | $297.5 | U.S. | Tech |
| 3 | Google | $281.4 | U.S. | Media |
| 4 | Microsoft | $191.6 | U.S. | Tech |
| 5 | Walmart | $113.8 | U.S. | Retail |
| 6 | Samsung Group | $99.7 | South Korea | Tech |
| 7 | ICBC | $69.5 | China | Banking |
| 8 | Verizon | $67.4 | U.S. | Telecoms |
| 9 | Tesla | $66.2 | U.S. | Automobiles |
| 10 | TikTok/Douyin | $65.7 | China | Media |
| 11 | Deutsche Telekom | $62.9 | Germany | Telecoms |
| 12 | China Construction
Bank | $62.7 | China | Banking |
| 13 | Home Depot | $61.1 | U.S. | Retail |
| 14 | Facebook | $59.0 | U.S. | Media |
| 15 | State Grid | $58.8 | China | Utilities |
| 16 | Mercedes-Benz | $58.8 | Germany | Automobiles |
| 17 | Agricultural Bank
Of China | $57.7 | China | Banking |
| 18 | Starbucks | $53.4 | U.S. | Restaurants |
| 19 | Toyota | $52.5 | Japan | Automobiles |
| 20 | WeChat | $50.2 | China | Media |
| 21 | Moutai | $49.7 | China | Spirits |
| 22 | AT&T | $49.6 | U.S. | Telecoms |
| 23 | Disney | $49.5 | U.S. | Media |
| 24 | Allianz Group | $48.4 | Germany | Insurance |
| 25 | Shell | $48.2 | UK | Oil & Gas |
| 26 | Instagram | $47.4 | U.S. | Media |
| 27 | Bank of China | $47.3 | China | Banking |
| 28 | Costco | $46.6 | U.S. | Retail |
| 29 | Aramco | $45.2 | Saudi Arabia | Oil & Gas |
| 30 | Ping An | $44.7 | China | Insurance |
| 31 | Huawei | $44.3 | China | Tech |
| 32 | China Mobile | $43.4 | China | Telecoms |
| 33 | BMW | $40.4 | Germany | Automobiles |
| 34 | accenture | $39.9 | U.S. | Tech |
| 35 | Oracle | $39.6 | U.S. | Tech |
| 36 | Bank of America | $38.6 | U.S. | Banking |
| 37 | Tencent | $38.1 | China | Media |
| 38 | UnitedHealthcare | $37.1 | U.S. | Healthcare
Services |
| 39 | McDonald's | $36.9 | U.S. | Restaurants |
| 40 | Porsche | $36.8 | Germany | Automobiles |
| 41 | NTT Group | $36.6 | Japan | Telecoms |
| 42 | UPS | $35.4 | U.S. | Logistics |
| 43 | Mitsubishi Group | $35.0 | Japan | Automobiles |
| 44 | Marlboro | $34.7 | U.S. | Tobacco |
| 45 | Deloitte | $34.5 | U.S. | Commercial
Services |
| 46 | American Express | $34.1 | U.S. | Commercial
Services |
| 47 | Volkswagen | $34.0 | Germany | Automobiles |
| 48 | Coca-Cola | $33.5 | U.S. | Soft Drinks |
| 49 | Wells Fargo | $33.0 | U.S. | Banking |
| 50 | CSCEC | $31.9 | China | Engineering
& Construction |
| 51 | J.P. Morgan | $31.8 | U.S. | Banking |
| 52 | Lowe's | $31.6 | U.S. | Retail |
| 53 | Chase | $31.3 | U.S. | Banking |
| 54 | Nike | $31.3 | U.S. | Apparel |
| 55 | Mitsui | $30.7 | Japan | Engineering
& Construction |
| 56 | CVS | $30.6 | U.S. | Retail |
| 57 | Citi | $30.6 | U.S. | Banking |
| 58 | Taobao | $30.5 | China | Retail |
| 59 | Wuliangye | $30.3 | China | Spirits |
| 60 | YouTube | $29.7 | U.S. | Media |
| 61 | PetroChina | $29.6 | China | Oil & Gas |
| 62 | VISA | $29.6 | U.S. | Commercial
Services |
| 63 | FedEx | $28.9 | U.S. | Logistics |
| 64 | Xfinity | $28.8 | U.S. | Telecoms |
| 65 | Target | $27.6 | U.S. | Retail |
| 66 | Tmall | $27.4 | China | Retail |
| 67 | Hyundai Group | $27.3 | South Korea | Automobiles |
| 68 | Sinopec | $27.1 | China | Oil & Gas |
| 69 | Tata Group | $26.4 | India | Engineering
& Construction |
| 70 | Louis Vuitton | $26.3 | France | Apparel |
| 71 | IBM | $26.2 | U.S. | Tech |
| 72 | EY | $25.7 | UK | Commercial
Services |
| 73 | PWC | $25.3 | U.S. | Commercial
Services |
| 74 | Mastercard | $24.8 | U.S. | Commercial
Services |
| 75 | China Merchants
Bank | $24.5 | China | Banking |
| 76 | Honda | $24.2 | Japan | Automobiles |
| 77 | Netflix | $24.2 | U.S. | Media |
| 78 | Cisco | $23.9 | U.S. | Tech |
| 79 | Sumitomo Group | $23.9 | Japan | Trading Houses |
| 80 | Spectrum | $23.3 | U.S. | Telecoms |
| 81 | Uber | $23.3 | U.S. | Mobility |
| 82 | Intel | $22.9 | U.S. | Tech |
| 83 | Dell Technologies | $22.6 | U.S. | Tech |
| 84 | SK Group | $22.5 | South Korea | Telecoms |
| 85 | Nestlé | $22.4 | Switzerland | Food |
| 86 | Ford | $22.3 | U.S. | Automobiles |
| 87 | TSMC | $21.6 | Taiwan | Tech |
| 88 | Walgreens | $21.6 | U.S. | Retail |
| 89 | Siemens Group | $ 21.4 | Germany | Engineering
& Construction |
| 90 | LG Group | $21.3 | South Korea | Tech |
| 91 | SAP | $21.1 | Germany | Tech |
| 92 | TotalEnergies | $20.7 | France | Oil & Gas |
| 93 | TD | $20.4 | Canada | Banking |
| 94 | Optum | $20.1 | U.S. | Healthcare
Services |
| 95 | Elevance Health
(formerly Anthem) | $19.9 | U.S. | Healthcare
Services |
| 96 | HSBC | $19.9 | UK | Banking |
| 97 | CREC | $19.8 | China | Engineering
& Construction |
| 98 | CHANEL | $19.4 | France | Apparel |
| 99 | General Electric | $19.3 | U.S. | Engineering
& Construction |
| 100 | Salesforce | $19.1 | U.S. | Tech |
Amazon ranks number one globally with its brand valued at $299 billion. As a market leader in online retail, it has strong brand loyalty in its B2C segment which generates its largest share of revenue, and is a key player in cloud services for its B2B platforms.
Apple is in close second with a $298 billion brand. It’s important to note that both tech giants brands fell in value from last year, as supply chain disruptions, labor market constraints, and slower forecasted revenue impacted their brands.
Other big tech brands Google (#3) and Microsoft (#4) were next in the ranking. Korean conglomerate Samsung (#6) was the highest-ranking firm based outside of America.
Looking at brand value based on sector, we can see that tech continues to dominate. The sector breakdown below uses data from the top 500 brands covered by Brand Finance.
| Rank | Sector | % of Total | Total Brand Value (B) |
|---|
| 1 | Tech | 19.4% | $891.2 |
| 2 | Retail | 15.0% | $690.0 |
| 3 | Media | 14.0% | $645.2 |
| 4 | Banking | 10.2% | $467.4 |
| 5 | Automobiles | 8.6% | $397.3 |
| 6 | Telecoms | 7.3% | $334.6 |
| 7 | Commercial Services | 3.8% | $174.0 |
| 8 | Oil & Gas | 3.7% | $171.0 |
| 9 | Engineering & Construction | 3.3% | $149.5 |
| 10 | Insurance | 2.0% | $93.0 |
| 11 | Restaurants | 2.0% | $90.3 |
| 12 | Spirits | 1.7% | $80.0 |
| 13 | Healthcare Services | 1.7% | $77.1 |
| 14 | Apparel | 1.7% | $77.0 |
| 15 | Logistics | 1.4% | $64.3 |
| 16 | Utilities | 1.3% | $58.8 |
| 17 | Tobacco | 0.8% | $34.7 |
| 18 | Soft Drinks | 0.7% | $33.5 |
| 19 | Trading Houses | 0.5% | $23.9 |
| 20 | Mobility | 0.5% | $23.3 |
| 21 | Food | 0.5% | $22.4 |
Overall, the top tech brands were worth a combined $891 billion largely thanks to the outsized influence of Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung.
After retail and media, the banking sector still held significant brand sway at $467 billion. Automobiles rounded out the top five sectors at $397 billion, led by companies like Tesla and Mercedes-Benz.
While some brands such as Apple and Amazon fell in value over the last year, others have increased their brand value.
Below, we show the fastest rising brands across the top 500 around the world:
| Rank | Name | Brand Value % Change (2022-2023) |
|---|
| 1 | BYD | 57% |
| 2 | ConocoPhillips | 56% |
| 3 | Maersk | 53% |
| 4 | LinkedIn | 49% |
| 5 | Christian Dior | 46% |
| 6 | Tesla | 44% |
| 7 | ADP | 44% |
| 8 | United Airlines | 42% |
| 9 | Instagram | 42% |
| 10 | Equinor | 40% |
BYD, a leading electric vehicle (EV) firm in China, jumped the sharpest. Focused on budget EVs and backed by Warren Buffett, it has become a growing competitor to Tesla, and is the second-largest producer of lithium-ion batteries globally.
Energy firm ConocoPhillips saw the second-largest gain in brand value, driven by its focus on energy transition fuels, cutting production emissions, and lowering supply costs.
Following a series of difficult years for the airline industry, United Airline’s brand value increased 42% as travel demand accelerated.
As the economic landscape continues to shift, the value of these brands will shift as well.
