The OECD Trust Survey explores people’s perceptions of different public institutions in their country and the degree to which they trust their government. These perceptions range from day-to-day interactions with public institutions to decision making on complex policy issues. Initiated in 2021, the Trust Survey was carried out in 30 OECD countries in October and November 2023, with results representative of their respective adult populations.
OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions 2024 Results - Country Notes: Colombia
Trust in public institutions
In 2023, 32% of Colombians reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, below the OECD average of 39%.
This number represents an increase by 11 percentage points since 2021, the second highest increase among the eighteen OECD countries with available data.
Figure 1. Trust in national government, 2023
Share of population who indicate different levels of trust in their national government (on a 0-10 scale), 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the national government?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
As in most OECD countries, Colombians place more trust in other people (58%) and the police (39%) than in the national government (32%). Around one third of the population reports high or moderately high trust in local government (34%) and courts and the judicial system (33%). Political parties (18%) and the national parliament (23%) are the least trusted institutions in Colombia.
Figure 2. Share of population with high or moderately high trust in different public institutions, other people and media, 2021 and 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust [institution]?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
Colombians who feel that the current political system does not let people like them have a say tend to trust the national government 40 percentage points less than those who feel they have political voice. This trust gap is smaller than the 47 percentage points gap on average across OECD countries.
Men in Colombia on average are more likely to have high or moderately high trust in the national government (37%) than women do (27%). The Colombian gender trust gap is thus larger than the 7 percentage point average gender trust gap across OECD countries.
The Colombian trust gap between those with and without financial concerns is above the OECD average. The trust gaps between younger and older people and between people with lower and higher educational attainment in Colombia are similar to the OECD average gap.
Figure 3. Share of population with high or moderately high trust in the national government by population group, 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the national government?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
Perceptions of the public governance drivers of trust
Perceptions of day-to-day interactions with public institutions
In most of the considered measures, Colombians’ satisfaction with day-to-day interactions with public institutions is below the OECD average.
A majority of Colombians (56%) with recent experience with the education system are satisfied with it, compared to 57% on average across the OECD. Moreover, 60% are satisfied with the administrative services they used, an important driver of trust in the civil service, compared to a 66% OECD average.
Colombians find it more likely than the OECD average that public services are improved if people complain: 47% of people in Colombia find this likely, compared to the OECD average of 39%.
Perceptions of integrity of public employees are low in most countries: Only 32% of Colombians expect that public employees would refuse bribes to speed up service access, below the OECD average of 36%.
Figure 4. Perceptions of day-to-day interactions between the population and public institutions
Share of population who are satisfied with public services or find a positive action in the respective situation likely, OECD and Colombia, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Colombia of the share of respondents who choose a response of 6-10 on the 0-10 scale for the above questions. Satisfaction with public services is restricted to recent service users.
Perceptions of decision making on complex policy issues
Colombia performs similar to the OECD average in many measures of decision-making on complex policy issues.
Around half of Colombians (49%) are confident that Colombia will succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next 10 years, compared to 42% on average across OECD countries.
Perceptions of government integrity are low in most countries: Around four in ten Colombians (39%) expect politicians would refuse to render a political favour in return for a well-paid private sector job, a share that is 8 percentage points higher than the average across OECD countries (31%).
In contrast, 36% of people in Colombia find it likely that government would clearly explain how they would be affected by a major reform, below the OECD average of 39%.
One-fourth of Colombians (25%) believe that the political system allows people like them to have a say in what government does. This important driver of trust in the national government is 5 percentage points lower than on average across OECD countries (30%).
Figure 5. Perceptions of government decision making on complex policy issues
Share of population who are confident in or find a positive action in the respective situation likely, OECD and Colombia, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Colombia of the share of respondents who choose a response of 6-10 on the 0-10 scale for the above questions.
For more information see oe.cd/trust