Confidence in public institutions and belief that social economic institutions are not subjected to corruption are dimensions that are strongly related to societal trust and cohesion.
In OECD countries surveyed in 2021, less than half of the population (41%) have high or moderately high trust in their national government on average (Figure 8.4). Finland and Norway stood at the top of the ranking with more than 60% of people reporting confidence. At the other end, less than one‑third of the population reported confidence in national government in Austria, Colombia, France, Japan and Latvia. Trust also varies across public institutions. Local governments generally inspire more trust than national ones (47% of people say they have high or moderately high trust in their local government on average) and civil servants fare better than the local and national governments (50% report high or moderately high trust in the civil service). The courts and legal system enjoy the highest levels of trust (57%) but only 4 out of 10 respondents have high or moderately high trust in their legislature.
Levels of trust in national government vary across subgroups of the population. On average, youth and those with lower levels of education and income report less trust in government (Figure 8.5). Perceived vulnerabilities seem to matter even more than current conditions: people who perceive themselves as financially insecure and, having a low social status, or feeling they do not have a say in what the government does, are consistently less trusting. On average, trust in the government among people who feel they have a say in the political system is 43 percentage points higher than among those who feel they do not.
Gallup World Poll data present data on perception of corruption in governments (Figure 8.6). On average across OECD countries in 2021/22, more than half of respondents (54%) perceived widespread corruption in their government. Denmark and Sweden report the lowest levels (under 20%) whereas the highest levels are perceived in Colombia and the Slovak Republic (at above 80%). Perception of corruption is above the OECD average in all key partner countries and is also above 80% in Bulgaria, Peru, Romania and South Africa. In the last decade, perception of corruption deteriorated most in Australia and the Netherlands, while it improved most in Estonia, Germany, Greece and Lithuania.
