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. In the United Kingdom, the data collection took place in September and October.
OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions 2024 Results - Country Notes: United Kingdom
Trust in public institutions
In 2023, 27% of people in the United Kingdom reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, below the OECD average of 39%.
This number represents a decrease by 8 percentage points since 2021, compared to a 2.4 percentage points decrease on average 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, people in the UK place more trust in other people (70%), courts and judicial system (62%), the police (56%), the national civil service (45%) and local government (34%) than in national government (27%). Political parties (12%), news media (19%) and the national parliament (24%) are the least trusted institutions.
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 the UK who feel that the current political system does not let people like them have a say tend to trust the national government 41 percentage points less than those who feel they have political voice. This trust gap is lower than the 47 percentage points gap across OECD countries.
The United Kingdom is the only country, together with Mexico, where people with lower education tend to trust the national government more than people with higher education: 30% of low educated report high or moderately high trust in the national government, compared to 23% high educated.
The trust gaps in the UK between men and women, and those with and without financial concerns are below the OECD average, while the trust gap between older and younger people is above the OECD average. People between 18-29 years old in Britain tend to trust the national government 12 percentage points less than those 50 years old and above, compared to a 7 percentage points gap across OECD countries.
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 institution
For four of the considered measures, people’s satisfaction with day-to-day interactions with public institutions in the UK is above the OECD average, while it is below OECD average for the remaining six measures. A large majority (74%) in the UK are satisfied with the administrative services they used, an important driver of trust in the civil service, compared to a 66% OECD average. In contrast, the shares of people in the UK satisfied with their recent experience with healthcare and education systems are lower than the OECD averages.
People in the UK find it more likely than the OECD average that information on administrative procedures is easy to find: 79% of people in the UK find this likely, compared to the OECD average of 67%.
In contrast, only 30% of people in the UK expects the public sector adopts innovation to improve services, and less than one in four (24%) expects that public services are improved following complaints, both values below the OECD averages (39% for each).
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 the UK, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Ireland 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
The United Kingdom performs worse than the OECD average in all measures of decision-making on complex policy issues. Moreover, in the UK and across the OECD, a lower share of people have positive perceptions regarding decision-making on complex policy issues than regarding day-to-day interactions with public institutions.
Almost half of people in the UK (47%) find it likely that government would be ready to protect lives in case of a national emergency, compared to 53% on average across OECD countries.
Only one in five in the UK (20%) thinks that parliament balances interest of different population groups and regions, compared to 36% of people on average across OECD countries. Only one in four in the UK (25%) thinks the government balances interests of current and future generations.
Perceptions of government integrity are low in most countries: Only 18% of people in the UK find it likely that politicians would refuse a private sector job in return for political favours, compared to 31% of people on average across the OECD.
One-fifth (20%) of the UK population 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 10 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 ins or find a positive action in the respective situation likely, OECD and the UK, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Ireland 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.
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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.