Brand Finance’s inaugural Trade in Services 100 2026 reveals how digital platforms, financial networks, professional services and travel brands transform intangible capabilities into cross-border value
LONDON, 9 September 2026 – Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy, has released its inaugural Trade in Services 100 2026 ranking in conjunction with the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing. The world’s 100 most valuable trade in services brands have a combined brand value of USD4.6 trillion, demonstrating the scale at which intangible assets are now commercialised through cross-border services.
Trade in services is no longer merely an adjunct to trade in goods. Software, data, financial networks, professional expertise, logistics systems, content rights and customer experiences are increasingly delivered, licensed, subscribed to across markets, creating new opportunities for brands to build value beyond physical products.
The Brand Finance Trade in Services 100 2026 ranking measures the brand-related future economic benefits associated with leading trade in services brands. It is not a measure of current services export flows, enterprise value, market share or investment value. All brand values are as at 1 January 2026.
The ranking is set against a wider shift in the global economy. Brand Finance’s Global Intangible Finance Tracker (GIFT™) 2025 estimates that the listed companies within its research scope held USD97.6 trillion in intangible asset value, compared with USD71.5 trillion in tangible net assets in the same year. An estimated 83% of intangible value is not disclosed in corporate financial reporting.
Microsoft, Google and Amazon lead a concentrated global ranking
Microsoft ranks first in the Brand Finance Trade in Services 100 2026, with a brand value of USD565.3 billion and a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 94.7/100. Google ranks second at USD433.1 billion, followed by Amazon at USD369.9 billion. Together, the three brands account for almost 30% of the ranking’s total brand value.
The top 10 brands together account for 45% of the ranking’s total value. Alongside the three leading digital brands, the top 10 lineup includes TikTok/Douyin, Facebook, T, ICBC, Instagram, China Construction Bank and Verizon. The leading brands operate across digital platforms, enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, telecommunications and financial services, but share a common ability to create frequent customer touchpoints, repeatable revenues and trusted service delivery at scale.
US leads, China second; other markets demonstrate distinct services trade in service models
The US has 46 brands in the Brand Finance Trade in Services 100 2026 ranking, with a combined brand value of USD2.85 trillion, representing 62% of the total ranking value. Its leading position reflects the scale of its digital platforms, enterprise technology, financial networks, professional services and globally replicated consumer-service brands.
China ranks second, with 21 brands worth a combined USD876.8 billion, or 19% of the total. TikTok/Douyin, ranking fourth globally at USD153.5 billion, is China’s most valuable trade in services brand. China’s presence is also supported by large financial services brands, including ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Ping An and China Merchants Bank, as well as digital and communications brands including Tencent, China Mobile and WeChat.
Beyond the two largest markets, the ranking highlights several different routes to services trade value creation. Germany has three brands worth USD194.7 billion, led by T, Allianz Group and SAP, which combine connectivity, risk management and enterprise systems. The UK has six brands worth USD168 billion, with Deloitte, HSBC, EY and PwC illustrating the enduring value of globally recognised professional expertise and financial services. Japan has four brands worth USD100.9 billion, while India has five brands worth USD100.4 billion, led by TATA Group, TCS and Infosys.
David Haigh, Chairman and CEO, Brand Finance, commented:
“The Brand Finance Trade in Services 100 2026 ranking shows that trade in services is one of the principal mechanisms through which intangible assets are converted into economic value across borders. The most valuable brands do more than facilitate a single transaction: they build repeatable relationships by combining capability, reliable delivery, regulatory credibility and stakeholder trust. The opportunity for every market is not simply to export more services, but to create brands that customers, partners and institutions continue to choose in market after market.”
Digital trade creates the largest value pool
The Global Digital Trade Brands 20 is the largest of the ranking’s four global sector windows, with a combined brand value of USD2.42 trillion. Microsoft, Google and Amazon together account for USD1.37 trillion, or 57%, of the sector window’s value.
The US holds 11 of the 20 digital trade brands and represents 77% of the sector window’s value. China has four brands, worth USD303.2 billion, representing 13% of the total, while Germany has two brands worth USD134 billion. The ranking illustrates how brand value in digital trade is built not merely on low-cost replication, but on user access, ecosystems, data, infrastructure, workflow integration and trust.
YouTube is the strongest brand in the overall Brand Finance Trade in Services 100 2026 ranking, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 95.3/100. Microsoft and Google follow with BSI scores of 94.7/100 and 94.6/100 respectively. Brand strength and brand value are distinct measures: BSI assesses a brand’s relative performance across marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance, while brand value estimates brand-related future economic benefits.
Financial services, professional expertise and customer experience remain essential cross-border infrastructure
The Global Cross-border Financial Services Brands 20 is the second-largest sector window, worth USD916.9 billion. Chinese brands account for 41% of this value, while US brands account for 40%. ICBC ranks first in the financial services window at USD90.9 billion, ahead of China Construction Bank and Bank of China. American Express, Bank of America, Chase, VISA, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Citi and Mastercard demonstrate the role of banking, payment networks and capital-market relationships in creating trusted cross-border infrastructure.
The Global Business Services Brands 20 is collectively worth USD268.4 billion. The UK has five brands accounting for 42% of the total, while the US has nine brands worth 34%. Deloitte leads the business services window with a brand value of USD43.5 billion. The prominence of Deloitte, EY, PwC, KPMG, S&P Global, ADP, McKinsey & Company and BCG highlights the value of professional judgement, repeatable methodologies, talent and accountability in complex international transactions.
The Global Travel and Lifestyle Services Brands 20 holds USD221.1 billion in value. McDonald’s, Starbucks and Hilton Hotels & Resorts are the three most valuable brands in this sector window. Their combined brand value of USD98.9 billion represents 45% of the total. The ranking demonstrates that service experiences can be standardised across markets while remaining responsive to local expectations, with customer confidence shaped by service quality, recovery when things go wrong and the reliability of the broader travel and lifestyle ecosystem.
The four global sector windows are independent analytical views and must not be aggregated.
Brand value is an innovation measure as well as a commercial metric
The World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index 2025 includes the value from Brand Finance, the world’s top 5,000 corporate brands, relative to GDP among its indicators of intangible assets. The measure uses Brand Finance data and methodology, reflecting the role of brands in translating innovation into market adoption and sustained commercial return.
For businesses, the finding is clear: brand value is created when services can be delivered consistently, understood across markets and trusted over time. For policymakers and cities, the challenge is to reduce the cost of trusted transactions through capable institutions, digital infrastructure, professional services, skills, standards and international connectivity.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
