Markets
Animated: The Most Valuable Brands From 2000–2022
The Most Valuable Brands From 2000–2022
How much money is a brand truly worth?
For some companies, a brand is something that helps slightly boost customer engagement and sales. But for others, including some of the largest companies in the world, a strong brand is one of their most valuable assets.
This animated graphic by James Eagle uses the annual brand rankings from Interbrand to track the world’s most valuable brands from 2000 to 2022.
Measuring Brand Value
One of the difficulties of brand valuation is its subjectivity.
In accounting, the value of a brand is sometimes represented as an intangible asset called goodwill on the balance sheet. That’s because the brand power associated with a company (i.e. brand recognition, brand loyalty, customer base, reputation, etc.) often makes a company more valuable than just the sum of its tangible assets like land, buildings, or product inventory.
This works for accounting purposes but is still a rough estimation, and doesn’t precisely quantify a brand’s true value.
For Interbrand’s studies, a consistent formula for brand strength was utilized which is based on a company’s financial forecast, brand role, and brand strength. It uses estimates of the present value of earnings a brand is forecasted to generate in the future.
The Top 10 Most Valuable Brands Since 2000
When the 2000s started, the internet was top-of-mind in terms of both markets and customer perception. The Dotcom bubble was driving the world’s largest companies, and brand value at the time reflected tech’s popularity:
Rank | Brand | Value (2000) | Industry |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Coca-Cola | $72.5B | Beverages |
2 | Microsoft | $70.2B | Tech |
3 | IBM | $53.2B | Tech |
4 | Intel | $39.1B | Tech |
5 | Nokia | $38.5B | Tech |
6 | General Electric | $38.1B | Energy |
7 | Ford | $36.4B | Automotive |
8 | Disney | $33.6B | Media |
9 | McDonald's | $27.9B | Restaurants |
10 | AT&T | $25.6B | Telecom |
Half of the top 10 most valuable brands at the time were in tech or telecom, including Microsoft, IBM, and Nokia.
Others were classic American brands and companies at the top of their fields, including Coca-Cola, General Electric, Ford, and McDonald’s.
But over the next 20 years, much of the old guard was replaced by new and rising brands. By 2022, only three of the top 10 most valuable brands from 2000 remained at the top:
Rank | Brand | Value (2022) | Industry |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Apple | $482.2B | Tech |
2 | Microsoft | $278.3B | Tech |
3 | Amazon | $274.8B | Consumer |
4 | $251.8B | Tech | |
5 | Samsung | $87.7B | Tech |
6 | Toyota | $59.8B | Automotive |
7 | Coca-Cola | $57.5B | Beverages |
8 | Mercedes-Benz | $56.1B | Automotive |
9 | Disney | $50.3B | Media |
10 | Nike | $50.3B | Consumer |
Apple’s brand is now worth an estimated $482 billion, even though the company didn’t even crack the top 10 list back in the year 2000.
In fact, four of the top five brands on the 2022 list are directly in tech, and even Amazon (#3) is often considered a tech giant. Not surprisingly, brand value in the top 10 has grown almost across the board, though Coca-Cola is a notable exception, dropping $15 billion in estimated brand value over 22 years.
How will the most valuable brands continue to evolve over the coming decades?

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Markets
Charted: The Dipping Cost of Shipping
After a dramatic spike during the pandemic, shipping costs have now fallen back to Earth. What does that mean for shippers and the economy?

The Dipping Cost of Shipping
A little over one year ago, congestion at America’s West Coast ports were making headlines, and the global cost of shipping containers had reached record highs.
Today, shipping costs have come back down to Earth, with some routes approaching pre-pandemic levels. The graphic above, using data from Freightos, shows just how dramatically costs have fallen in a short amount of time.
The Freightos Baltic Index (FBX)—a widely recognized benchmark for global freight rates—has fallen 80% since its peak in late 2021.
Shipping Route | Peak Price (Last 90 days) | Recent Price | Change |
---|---|---|---|
East Asia -> North America West | $2,702 | $1,323 | -51% |
North America West -> East Asia | $1,037 | $805 | -22% |
East Asia -> North America East | $6,296 | $2,812 | -55% |
East Asia -> North Europe | $4,853 | $2,978 | -39% |
North America East -> North Europe | $850 | $552 | -35% |
North Europe -> North America East | $7,102 | $5,507 | -22% |
Why Shipping Costs Matter
The vast majority of trade is conducted over the world’s oceans, so skyrocketing shipping costs can wreak havoc on the global economy.
A recent study from the IMF, which included 143 countries over the past 30 years, found that shipping costs are an important driver of inflation around the world. In fact, when freight rates double, inflation increases by 0.7 of a percentage point.
Of course, some nations feel the effects of higher shipping costs more acutely than others. Countries that import more of what they consume and that are more integrated into the global supply chain are more likely to see inflation rise as shipping costs elevate.
Falling Freight Rates Are a Good Thing, Right?
Falling shipping costs are great news for everyone except, well…shippers.
While most of us can eventually look forward to improved supply chain efficiency and less inflationary pressure, shipping companies are seeing the end of a two-year boom period.
For example, major shippers like COSCO and Hapag-Lloyd saw a staggering 10x or more increase in profit per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) shipped.
For the time being, carriers are canceling voyages and sending obsolete ships to scrap to keep prices from bottoming out completely. In early January, container spot freight rates rose for first time in 43 weeks, signaling that the rollercoaster ride that shipping rates have been on since the start of the pandemic may be coming to an end.
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