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: Netherlands
Trust in public institutions
In 2023, 44% of Dutch people reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, above the OECD average of 39%.
This number represents a decrease by 5 percentage points 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, Dutch place more trust in other people (77%), the police (76%) and courts and the judicial system (72%) than in the national government (44%). Around half of the population reports high or moderately high trust in news media (54%), local government (54%), international organizations (52%) and the national civil service (52%). Political parties (43%) and national parliament (37%) are the least trusted institutions in the Netherlands.
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.
Dutch people who feel that the current political system does not let people like them have a say tend to trust the national government 47 percentage points less than those who feel they have political voice, equal to the average gap across OECD countries.
Men in Netherlands on average are more likely to have high or moderately high trust in the national government (47%) than women do (40%). This gender gap is equal to the seven percentage point average gender trust gap across OECD countries; although both men and women in Netherlands tend to trust the government more than the average across OECD countries.
The trust gap in Netherlands between the young and the old is smaller than the OECD average; and unlike in the majority of countries, young people in the Netherlands are more likely to have high or moderately high trust in the national government than younger people do. In contrast, the trust gap between those with and without financial concerns is above the OECD average. Finally, the trust gap between people with lower and higher educational attainment is similar to the OECD average.
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 all of the considered measures, satisfaction of Dutch people with day-to-day interactions with public institutions is above the OECD average.
A large majority of Dutch people (67%) with recent experience with the healthcare system are satisfied with it, compared to 52% on average across the OECD. Moreover, 78% are satisfied with the administrative services they used, an important driver of trust in the civil service, compared to a 66% OECD average. Similarly, 71% of Dutch people with recent experience with the education system are satisfied with it, below the OECD average of 57%.
People in the Netherlands find it more likely than the OECD average that their application for government benefits would be treated fairly: 72% of people in Netherlands find this likely, compared to the OECD average of 52%.
Perceptions of the integrity of public employees are low in most countries: 43% of Dutch people believe that public employees would refuse bribes to speed up service access, although still higher than 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 Netherlands, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Netherlands 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
The Netherlands performs better than the OECD average in almost all measures of decision-making on complex policy issues.
A large majority of Dutch people (68%) find it likely that the government would be ready to protect lives in case of a national emergency, compared to 53% on average across OECD countries.
Half of Dutch people (50%) believe that government clearly explains how they would be impacted by a major reform, a share that is 11 percentage points higher than the average across OECD countries (39%).
Perceptions of government integrity are low in most countries: Only 28% of people in the Netherlands find it likely that government would refuse a corporation’s demand that could be harmful to society as a whole, slightly lower than the average across OECD countries (30%).
Around four in ten Dutch people (39%) 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 9 percentage points higher than 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 Netherlands, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Netherlands of the share of respondents who choose a response of 6-10 on the 0-10 scale for the above questions.
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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.