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 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: Luxembourg
Trust in public institutions
In 2023, 56% of people in Luxembourg reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, above the OECD average of 39%.
This number did not change since 2021, compared to an average decrease of 2.4 percentage points 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.
Similarly to most OECD countries, people in Luxembourg place more trust in the police (73%), courts and the judicial system (70%) and other people (59%) than in the national government. More than half of the population report high or moderately high trust in local government (62%), the national parliament (57%) and the national civil service (57%). Political parties (32%) and news media (35%) are the least trusted institutions in Luxembourg.
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.
People in Luxembourg who feel that the current political system does not let people like them have a say tend to trust the national government 44 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 Luxembourg on average are more likely to have high or moderately high trust in the national government (62%) than women do (49%). This gap is above the 7 percentage point average gender trust gap across OECD countries.
The trust gap in Luxembourg between people 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 Luxembourg are similar to the OECD averages.
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
For almost all of the considered measures, the satisfaction with day-to-day interactions with public institutions in Luxembourg is above the OECD average.
A large majority of people in Luxembourg (73%) with recent experience with the healthcare system are satisfied with it, compared to 52% on average across the OECD. Moreover, 84% are satisfied with the administrative services they used, an important driver of trust in the civil service, compared to a 66% OECD average.
People in Luxembourg find it more likely than the OECD average that their application for government benefits would be treated fairly: 63% of people in Luxembourg find this likely, compared to the OECD average of 52%.
In contrast, only 38% of people in Luxembourg believe that they have an opportunity to voice opinions on local government’s decision, lower than the OECD average of 41%.
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 Luxembourg, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Luxembourg 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 on decision making on complex policy issues
Luxembourg performs better than the OECD average on many measures of decision-making on complex policy issues. However, in Luxembourg and across the OECD, a lower share of people have positive perceptions regarding complex decision-making than regarding day-to-day interactions with public institutions.
A large majority of people in Luxembourg (61%) find it more likely than the OECD average that the government would be ready to protect lives in case of a large-scale emergency, compared to 53% on average across OECD countries.
Around half of people in Luxembourg (49%) expect that government takes decisions based on best available evidence, a share that is 8 percentage points higher than the average across OECD countries (41%).
In contrast, only 29% of people in Luxembourg find it likely that government would refuse a corporation’s demand that could be harmful to society as a whole, slightly lower than the OECD average of 30%.
Fewer than one-third of people in Luxembourg (29%) 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 almost identical to the OECD average (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 Luxembourg, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Luxembourg 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
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.