Where Trust In Government Is Highest and Lowest

When Joe Biden moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, one of his administration's most difficult tasks was always going to be the bolstering of trust in the American government and the healing of social divisions. Along with distrust inside of government, the nation is more divided than ever though, and a new survey has found that a mere 39 percent of the U.S. public trusted the government in late 2021 - a 3 percentage point decrease on 2020.

The findings come from Edelman Research's latest Trust Barometer which polled 36,000 people in 28 countries about their trust in various institutions in November 2021. The U.S. figure is far lower than many other countries, with trust in government in Canada and Australia standing at 53 percent and 52 percent, respectively. It is also slightly lower than the UK where the government's Brexit strategy has proven highly controversial with public approval of the institution 42 percent in late 2021.

Some of the highest levels of trust in government were seen in Asia where 91 percent of Chinese respondents said they had trust, along with 82 percent of people polled in Saudi Arabia and 74 percent in India. The lowest rating was found in Argentina, where just 22 percent of respondents said they trusted their government there.

We've also taken a look at global levels of trust in business, here.