The Edelman Trust Barometer 2018 has revealed that globally, average trust levels in NGOs have not risen over the past year, with declines seen in a number of European countries.

The Barometer surveyed people in 28 countries globally. While media has become the least trusted institution globally for the first time, trust in NGOs has remained static over the past year with 53 per cent of the general population saying they trust them.

However, there has been a 3% drop in trust among what the report called ‘the informed public’,* from 67% to 64%. And, on a country-by-country basis, there were declines in trust in half of the 28 countries surveyed. In Europe, Italy saw the biggest decline in trust of NGOs, falling 13% year on year, while Germany, the Netherlands, and France also saw trust levels decrease slightly, by 2%, 1%, and 2% respectively.