Nikkei BP’s “6th ESG Brand Survey”: Toyota Returns to Top Position, Ranking First in All Categories
Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. Press Release: October 3, 2025 Nikkei BP’s “6th ESG Brand Survey”: Toyota returns to the top, taking first place in all categories On October 3, Nikkei BP (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tetsuya Iguchi) announced the results of its 6th ESG Brand Survey, which examined the perception of companies’ ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) activities. Toyota Motor Corporation regained the top spot overall, followed by Panasonic in second place and Suntory in third place. This survey was conducted online from May 29 to June 29, 2025. Consumers and businesspeople were asked to rate 560 major corporate brands in four categories: the ESG elements “Environment (E),” “Society (S),” and “Corporate Governance (G),” plus “Integrity,” which reflects the image of a good company. Valid responses were received from 21,000 people. Here is an overview of the survey results. ■ESG Brand Survey Overall Ranking (2025) Rank Last year’s ranking Company/brand name Index 1 6 Toyota Motor Corporation 97.0 2 9 Panasonic 81.5 3 10 Suntory 79.9 4 45 Starbucks Coffee Japan 78.9 5 16 Ryohin Keikaku (MUJI) 76.2 6 17 Ajinomoto AGF 76.0 7 1 Aeon 73.9 8 8 Kao 72.4 8 2 Sony 72.4 10 27 Shiseido 72.1 In last year’s survey, Toyota dropped to sixth place overall following reports of its model approval fraud, but this year it has made a complete comeback. This marks its second time, following the fourth survey, that it has taken first place in all categories. Its environmental scores were particularly high, coming in first in the categories of “striving to address climate change issues (carbon neutrality, decarbonization),” “actively promoting energy conservation and using renewable energy,” and “putting an emphasis on environmental education for employees.” Panasonic came in second overall, moving up from ninth place last year. It achieved high rankings in all categories, placing third in the environment category, fourth in society category, thirteenth in corporate governance category, and third in integrity category. Individually, the company received high marks for “actively promoting energy conservation and the use of renewable energy,” “promoting work style reforms such as promoting remote work and reducing working hours,” and “complying with laws and regulations.” Suntory came in third overall, moving up from 10th place last year. Like Toyota, Suntory also received high marks for its environmental performance, coming in second in the environmental category. In terms of individual categories, it received the highest scores for “reducing pollution of the air, water, soil, etc.” and “striving to protect nature and preserve biodiversity.” An overview of the ESG Brand Survey will be presented in a feature article in the November 2025 issue of Nikkei ESG (published October 8). It also covers consumer interest in corporate ESG activities. Please read it. ■About the Nikkei ESG Management Forum Established in April 2018 with the aim of promoting understanding of ESG management in society and industry, Nikkei BP serves as the secretariat. Working with 247 member companies and organizations (as of October 1, 2025), the organization engages in activities such as research and surveys on ESG management, as well as information gathering and dissemination. ※Nikkei ESG Management Forum website https://project.nikkeibp.co.jp/ESG/esg/
03-6811-8803, Email: esgf@nikkeibp.co.jp). To request an interview, please visit the Nikkei BP corporate website inquiry page
(https://www.nikkeibp.co.jp/faq/).