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: Sweden
Trust in public institutions
In 2023, 43% of Swedish people reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, above the OECD average of 39%.
This number represents an increase by 4 percentage points since 2021, compared to a 2.4 percentage point average decline across the 18 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.
Similar to most OECD countries, Swedes place more trust in the police (69%), courts and the judicial system (64%) and other people (62%) than in the national government (43%). Fewer than half of the population report high or moderately high trust in national parliament (46%) and the news media (45%). Political parties (31%) are the least trusted institutions in Sweden.
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.
Swedish people who feel that the current political system does not let people like them have a say tend to trust the national government 49 percentage points less than those who feel they have political voice. This trust gap is slightly higher than the 47 percentage points gap on average across OECD countries.
Men in Sweden on average are more likely to have high or moderately high trust in the national government (48%) than women do (39%). This gap is slightly higher than the 7 percentage point average gender trust gap across OECD countries; although both men and women in Sweden tend to trust the federal government more than the average across OECD countries.
The Swedish trust gaps between younger and older people and between those with and without financial concerns are below the OECD average, while the trust gap between people with lower and higher educational attainment is above 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. The share with high or moderately high trust in government among people who are 50 or older is identical to the share among people who are between 18-29 years olds, and does therefore not appear in the figure.
Perceptions of the public governance drivers of trust
Perceptions of day-to-day interactions with public institutions
In most of the considered measures, satisfaction of Swedish people with day-to-day interactions with public institutions is above the OECD average.
A large majority of Swedes (62%) with recent experience with the education system are satisfied with it, compared to 57% on average across the OECD. Moreover, 73% 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 Sweden find it more likely than the OECD average that information on administrative procedures is easy to find: 73% of people in Sweden find this likely, compared to the OECD average of 67%.
Less than four in ten Swedes (37%)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 Sweden, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Sweden 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
Sweden performs similar to the OECD average in many measures of decision-making on complex policy issues. However, in Sweden and across 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 Sweden (61%) 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.
Perceptions of government integrity are low in most countries: Around four in ten Swedes (38%) expect that government would refuse a corporation’s demand that could be harmful to society as a whole, a share that is 8 percentage points higher than the average across OECD countries (30%).
Slightly lower than one third of Swedes (29%) find it likely that government would use inputs from citizens’ consultation, lower than the OECD average of 32%.
Three in ten Swedes (30%) 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 on par with 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 Sweden, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Sweden 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.