Now in its 25th edition, the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, a global survey on trust, reveals a world increasingly divided by grievance, institutional distrust, and a zero-sum mindset.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, visualizes the 2025 Edelman Trust Index by country, and their change from 2024.
The Trust Index is the average percent trust in NGOs, businesses, government, and media based on a survey of over 33,000 respondents from 28 different countries conducted by Edelman Trust Institute.
Which Countries Trust Gov’t, NGOs, and Business the Most?
Below, we show each of the 28 countries’ Trust Index score for 2025 and their change from 2024.
| Country | Election/change in government leadership in past year | Trust Index 2025 | Change in percentage points from 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇳 China | N | 77 | -2 |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | Y | 76 | 3 |
| 🇮🇳 India | Y | 75 | 0 |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | N | 72 | -2 |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | N | 71 | -1 |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | Y | 66 | -4 |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | N | 66 | -2 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | N | 65 | -1 |
| 🇳🇬 Nigeria | N | 65 | 4 |
| 🇰🇪 Kenya | N | 63 | -1 |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | Y | 57 | -2 |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | Y | 57 | 1 |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | Y | 53 | 4 |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | N | 52 | -1 |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | N | 51 | -2 |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | N | 50 | 0 |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | N | 50 | 1 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | N | 49 | -2 |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | N | 49 | 2 |
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | Y | 48 | 9 |
| 🇫🇷 France | Y | 48 | 1 |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | N | 48 | 1 |
| 🇺🇸 U.S. | Y | 47 | 1 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | N | 44 | -2 |
| 🇬🇧 UK | Y | 43 | 4 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | Y | 41 | -4 |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | Y | 41 | -2 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | Y | 37 | -2 |
The global average saw no change from 2024, remaining steady at 56. However, a slight majority (54%) of the countries saw a drop in their trust index compared to last year.
Among the world’s 10 largest economies, five rank among the least trusting nations on the Trust Index: Japan (the lowest at 37), Germany (41), the UK (43), the U.S. (47), and France (48).
Argentina saw the largest increase in trust from 2024 at +9, following the election of Javier Milei, who campaigned on radical economic reforms amid the country’s ongoing financial crisis.
Only 4 of the 13 countries that had a national election or leadership change in the past year saw an increase in trust (Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Argentina)
The Edelman Trust Barometer also found that 61% of respondents had a moderate or high sense of grievance, which is defined by a belief that government and business make their lives harder and serve narrow interests, and wealthy people benefit unfairly from the system.
The survey highlights a rising willingness to justify extreme actions, such as violence and disinformation, as economic fears, deepening grievance, and institutional distrust continue to escalate.
To learn about global trust in various institutions, check out this graphic that visualizes the level of trust the public in 28 countries have in the United Nations.
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