Korea’s national brand value was worth $1.6 trillion, ranking ninth among 39 countries worldwide, a local think tank found Tuesday.

The Institute for Industrial Policy Studies evaluated the brand competitiveness of countries, cities and companies based on surveys and trade volume.

The United States topped the rankings with its brand value worth $12.2 trillion, followed by Germany with $7.4 trillion and Japan with $3.4 trillion.

Over the past three years, Asia-Pacific countries showed the highest growth of 19.7 percent in their brand value. During the same period, North and South America and Europe marked 7.4 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

In Asia, the brand value of China and India soared 21.8 percent and 47.2 percent. Korea saw a 16.5 percent growth.

Among Korean cities, Seoul’s brand value was highest, worth 384.5 trillion won ($354.6 billion), followed by Busan with 87.1 trillion won and Incheon with 65.5 trillion won.

Samsung Electronics topped the Korean corporate category for 13 consecutive years with its brand value reaching $95 trillion won. Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics followed with 30 trillion won and 22 trillion won, respectively.

“Growth in national brand value is helpful to supporting the overseas entry of businesses. And their enhanced brand value again boosts national brand value. We need to seek synergy among them,” said Ha Soo-kyoung, vice president of the institute.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)