Distrust of people with different views, pessimism about the future, and the growing importance of local relationships are the key findings of the Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 report. The study shows that the crisis of trust is entering a new phase: people are increasingly retreating into circles of like-minded individuals. For businesses, this represents not only a reputational challenge but also a risk to innovation, collaboration, and business growth.
What Is the Edelman Trust Barometer?
The Edelman Trust Barometer is an annual study of public trust conducted by the Edelman Trust Institute. Since 2000, it has examined the extent to which people trust major institutions: business, government, the media, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The 2026 report, titled Trust Amid Insularity, presents the findings of the 26th edition of the study. The survey was conducted online between October 25 and November 16, 2025, with 33,938 respondents across 28 countries, averaging approximately 1,200 respondents per market. This year’s edition focuses on a phenomenon the authors describe as insularity — a reluctance to trust people who differ from us in their values, beliefs, sources of information, backgrounds, or approaches to social issues.
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 – global report.
Key Findings from the Report
- 70% of respondents are reluctant or hesitant to trust people who are different from them.
- 32% of respondents believe that the next generation will enjoy better living conditions than the current one.
- 57 points – the global trust index score for business, government, the media, and non-governmental organizations.
- 15 points – the global gap in the trust index between people with high and low incomes.
- 39% of respondents get information at least once a week from sources representing different political viewpoints. This is 6 percentage points lower than a year earlier.
- 81% of respondents believe that employers should help build trust between groups that distrust one another.
- 58% of respondents say their employer performs well in this area.
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2026, global report.
1. The Trust Crisis Is Evolving into a Crisis of Insularity
In previous editions of the Edelman report, the focus was on social polarization and a sense of grievance. In 2026, the central issue is a reluctance to trust people who are different from us.
As many as 70% of respondents say they are reluctant or hesitant to trust people with different values, beliefs, sources of information, backgrounds, or approaches to problem-solving. Of this group, 30% say they are unwilling to trust such people, while 40% express hesitation.
This phenomenon is not limited to a single region of the world. Particularly high figures were recorded in Japan (90%) and Germany (81%). The United Kingdom (76%) and Canada (73%) also scored above the global average. In the United States, the figure stood at 70%.
These differences are not exclusively political. Distrust can also stem from different life experiences, cultural backgrounds, ways of interpreting facts, or approaches to social challenges.
In practice, this means that shared values and similar ways of thinking are increasingly becoming prerequisites for building relationships. Trust is no longer the starting point for cooperation with others; instead, it increasingly depends on whether the other person belongs to our own circle.
2. Pessimism About the Future Reaches Alarming Levels
One of the report’s most striking findings is the low level of optimism about the prospects of future generations. Just 32% of respondents worldwide believe that the next generation will be better off than the current one. This indicates that the belief in the possibility of improved living conditions is no longer the prevailing outlook. The largest year-on-year declines in this indicator were recorded in India and China, both falling by 13 percentage points.
Pessimism is not disconnected from everyday experiences. It is influenced by economic uncertainty, the cost of living, geopolitical tensions, disinformation, and concerns about the pace of technological change. A lack of belief in a better future can make it more difficult to build shared social goals. When people do not expect their situation to improve, it becomes harder to persuade them to support changes whose benefits will only materialize over time, including innovation, reforms, and long-term investment.
For businesses, this is an important signal: communicating a vision of future success alone may not be enough. Audiences expect credible arguments, tangible benefits, and evidence that the proposed changes will genuinely improve their lives.
3. Trust in Institutions Is Growing Unevenly
The global trust index in the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer stands at 57 points, one point higher than the previous year. The index represents the average percentage of people who trust four institutions: business, government, the media, and non-governmental organizations.
However, this seemingly modest change masks substantial differences between countries. China and the United Arab Emirates recorded the highest trust index scores, at 80 points each. India scored 74, while Indonesia and Saudi Arabia each scored 73. At the other end of the ranking were Japan (38 points), France (42), the United Kingdom and Germany (44 each), and Spain (45).
The report also reveals a divide between developing and developed countries. The average trust index stands at 66 points in the former group and 49 points in the latter. This does not mean that trust is high in every developing country or low across all developed economies. The data nevertheless show a clear difference between these two groups of markets.
For international businesses, this highlights the need to account for local conditions. Communication, reputation management, and customer relationship strategies should not be based solely on the assumption that a brand trusted in one market will be received equally well in another.
4. Economic Divisions Are Becoming More Pronounced
The report also highlights a widening trust gap between people with high and low incomes. In 2012, the global gap in the trust index between these groups stood at 6 points. Fourteen years later, in 2026, it had grown to 15 points. In the United States, the gap reached as much as 29 points. Significant disparities were also recorded in Indonesia and Nigeria, at 26 points each, and in France, where the gap stood at 22 points.
This divide matters because trust in institutions is also linked to perceptions of their integrity, competence, and ability to represent the interests of different social groups.
If people on lower incomes feel that institutions are not addressing their needs, they may find it harder to believe claims about the common good. At the same time, higher levels of trust among wealthier respondents may indicate that different social groups are increasingly operating within distinct institutional realities.
For businesses, this is an important warning against treating the market as a homogeneous audience. Similar products, prices, and messages may be perceived differently depending on customers’ economic circumstances and previous experiences.
5. People Are Increasingly Placing Their Trust in Those Closest to Them
Another key finding is the shift in trust away from large institutions and their leaders towards people with whom we have direct contact.
Among respondents who said that social events over the past five years had affected their trust, the net changes were as follows:
| People and institutions | Net change in trust |
|---|---|
| Neighbors, family, and friends | +11 pt |
| Coworkers | +11 pt |
| CEO of one’s own company | +9 pt |
| Foreign business leaders | −6 pt |
| Large media organizations | −11 pt |
| National government leaders | −16 pt |
Net change is the difference between the percentage of people reporting an increase in trust and the percentage reporting a decrease. The data refer to respondents who felt that social events had affected their trust, rather than the entire survey population.
The findings suggest that direct relationships can be an important source of stability when trust in large institutions weakens. For brands and organizations, this means that everyday customer experiences, workplace relationships, and the credibility of company representatives are becoming increasingly important. A brand’s general messaging may be less persuasive than a recommendation from someone the audience already trusts.
6. Employers Have a Key Role to Play in Rebuilding Trust
The workplace plays a prominent role in this year’s report. According to Edelman, employers are best positioned to create conditions in which people with differing views can work together. As many as 81% of respondents believe that employers should actively help build trust between groups that distrust one another. At the same time, 58% say their employer performs well in this area. The gap is 23 percentage points. This finding shows that expectations of organizations exceed assessments of their current efforts.
The workplace can, however, provide an environment where people with different experiences and perspectives interact. Collaborative projects, working in diverse teams, and the ability to engage in constructive dialogue can help reduce distrust.
The report also highlights that trust in one’s own employer remains an important asset. Companies can therefore do more than foster internal relationships: they can also use their position to encourage cooperation and build bridges between different groups. This does not mean that employers should impose particular views on their employees. Rather, the goal is to create conditions in which differences do not prevent people from working together.
7. Distrust Can Hinder Innovation and Business Growth
Distrust of people who think differently is not merely a social problem. It can translate into tangible decisions within organizations and the wider economy.
The report indicates, among other things, that:
- 42% of respondents say they would put less effort into a project’s success if the team leader held different political beliefs.
- 34% of employees would prefer to change departments rather than report to a manager whose values differed from their own.
- 34% of respondents would support restricting the number of foreign companies operating in their country, even if this meant higher prices.
Such attitudes can hinder collaboration between teams, limit knowledge sharing, and increase resistance to new solutions. Organizations need to bring together different ideas, skills, and perspectives. If disagreement is treated as a reason for distrust rather than an opportunity to explore alternative solutions, a company may lose some of its innovation potential.
For international businesses, there is an additional dimension: a growing preference for domestic companies and distrust of foreign businesses can make it more difficult to build relationships in markets where a brand has yet to establish a strong presence.
8. How Can Businesses Rebuild Trust?
The report highlights the need to actively build trust between groups that differ in their views, experiences, or ways of interpreting the world. Simply expressing a commitment to openness is not enough; concrete action is required.
First: listen without prejudice. Rather than immediately trying to persuade audiences to adopt your own position, seek to understand their concerns, experiences, and expectations.
Second: create opportunities for collaboration. Project teams that bring together people with different perspectives can help build relationships, provided the organization supports constructive dialogue and conflict resolution.
Third: invest in local relationships. For international brands, it is important to take local needs and cultural contexts into account rather than simply transferring a global message from one market to another.
Fourth: strengthen leaders’ credibility. Trust is built not only through public statements but also through decision-making, responses to criticism, and the way people with differing views are treated.
Fifth: measure the impact of your efforts. Organizations should regularly assess how employees, customers, and other stakeholder groups perceive their credibility. Opinion polls, employee surveys, and feedback analysis can help identify areas for improvement.
Summary: Trust Today Requires Building Relationships Across Divides
The Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 shows that the problem is not simply declining trust in institutions. An increasingly significant challenge is the reluctance to trust people who differ from us in their values, experiences, or worldviews. As many as 70% of respondents express distrust or hesitation towards people who are different from them, while only 32% believe that the next generation will be better off than the current one. At the same time, the findings point to the growing importance of relationships with people in our immediate circles and the particular role employers can play in creating an environment for collaboration.
For businesses, the takeaway is clear: trust should be treated as a long-term strategic asset, not merely as an outcome of marketing communications. A company’s credibility depends on the quality of its relationships, the consistency between its actions and its promises, and its ability to work with people who do not always share the same point of view. In a world where similarity is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for trust, organizations that can foster collaboration despite differences may gain a competitive advantage.
About Edelman
Edelman is an international consultancy specializing in public relations, strategic communications, and reputation management. Since 2000, it has published the Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual study examining public trust in major institutions, including business, government, the media, and non-governmental organizations. The report is produced by the Edelman Trust Institute, the company’s research unit, which examines trust and its significance for business and society.
The 2026 report is based on a survey conducted across 28 countries. Online interviews, lasting approximately 30 minutes, were conducted between October 25 and November 16, 2025. A total of 33,938 people participated, with sample sizes ranging from 1,200 to 1,501 respondents per country.
According to the methodology published by Edelman, the data reflect the population structure in each country in terms of age, gender, and region. The global margin of error for average results across the 28 markets is ±0.7 percentage points, while for individual countries it ranges from ±3.3 to ±3.7 percentage points. These figures were calculated at a 99% confidence level. Global results are essentially averages across the 28 countries surveyed and should therefore not automatically be treated as representative of countries that were not included in the study. Poland was not included in the 2026 edition.
The Edelman Trust Barometer is a study conducted by a consultancy rather than an independent statistical agency. Nevertheless, its findings are widely used as a source of insight into changes in public trust and expectations of institutions. When interpreting the data, it is important to consider both the scope of the study and its methodology.