KEY RESULTS
Spring 2021 continued to be overshadowed by the Corona crisis for all institutions. The institutions that Germans trust in these uncertain times has not changed significantly in recent months. Although the government in particular has lost some of its trust, it remains the institution that Germans trust most.
2021 Edelman Trust Barometer
SPRING UPDATE
16.800+ RESPONDENTS
14 MARKETS
Government remains the most trusted institution in Germany
Among Germans, the government at 55% (-4 %pc; global: 56%, +1 %pc) and companies at 54% (+/-0 %pc; global: 62%, +2 %pc) did not gain further trust in the spring. Nevertheless, confidence in Germany, which has basically risen during the pandemic, is still significantly higher than before the global crisis was declared. While the government – followed by companies – remains the most trusted institution, the media (53%; +1 %pc; global: 51%, +1 %pc) and NGOs (47%; +1 %pc; global: 58%, +1 %pc) are close behind.
Large trust gap between informed and general public on trust in business
While the informed public expresses the greatest trust in business at 73% compared to the other institutions, the general public only gives them a neutral rating of 52%. This is where the biggest trust gap is, at 21 percentage points. For the government (12 percentage points), the media (10 percentage points) and NGOs (13 percentage points), the trust gap is much smaller overall.
EU confronted with mistrust
Germans' trust in the institutions of the EU has declined significantly. A decline seen globally in 9 out of 14 countries surveyed compared to before the pandemic. At 46% (- 5 percentage points), this is particularly dramatic in Germany. While Germans were still neutral towards the EU in January, they express their distrust of the EU only five months later.
Traumatised view into the future
Globally, as well as in this country, 65% of respondents say they are still mentally in a kind of pandemic mode, worrying about their safety and that they are waiting for things to get better. Furthermore, 59% believe increased mental health problems will be among the worst negative consequences of the pandemic .
Click here to go to the 2021 Trust Spring Update Website.
2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Spring Update: A World in Trauma
The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Spring Update: A World in Trauma is an update to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer. The survey was conducted by Edelman Data & Intelligence (DxI) between April 30 and May 11, 2021 and sampled more than 16,800 respondents in 14 markets: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, S. Africa, S. Korea, UAE, UK, and U.S. 1,200 people were surveyed in each market, 100 of which were informed public. All informed public respondents met the following criteria: aged 25-64, college-educated; household income in the top quartile for their age in their country; read or watch business/news media at least several times a week; follow public policy issues in the news at least several times a week. For more information, visit https://www.edelman.com/research/trust-2021-spring-update
Press contact
Anna-Lena Schildt, Senior PR & Marketing manager of Edelman Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 40 80 90 36 770, E-Mail: Presse-DE@edelman.com