Washington - The global image of the United States has sharply improved since President Barack Obama took office, a poll released Thursday showed.

The Pew Global Attitudes survey of 24 nations and the Palestinian territories concluded that the international view of the United States has returned to the positive levels that existed before Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, became president.

Pew said the outcome shows that Obama enjoys much of the world's confidence, particularly in Western Europe, where the biggest gains were made.

The largest increases took place in France and Germany, two countries where America's image plummeted during the Bush years. Seventy-five per cent of French and 64 per cent of Germans had a favourable view of the United States. A 33-per-cent increase took place in both countries from last year's survey.

There were also sharp increases in Argentina, Britain, Indonesia, Mexico and Spain.

The only country where the US image markedly fell was in Israel, where there is scepticism about Obama's push for peace with the Palestinians and his willingness to open direct talks with Iran. The Israeli favourable view of the United States fell from 78 per cent last year to 71 per cent.

There was a slight increase - 2 per cent - in the Palestinian territories, where the overall favourable view of the United States, at 15 per cent, remained poor. It was also poor in Pakistan at 16 per cent.

There were marginal gains in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

The poll was conducted from May 18 to June 16 and involved interviews with 27,000 people.(dpa)