Trust Barometer Heads South

People’s trust in business, government, non-governmental organizations and media has witnessed a steep fall over the past twelve months. This conclusion was made by in the latest Edelman Trust Barometer report. According to it, the trust across all these levels has declines on a global level.

On the contrary, the United Arab Emirates is one of the few countries where population’s trust saw a rise.

The annual Edelman Trust Barometer states that people’s trust in media, governments, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and business has decreased worldwide. Moreover, researchers have discovered that trust has dropped under the 50% mark in more than 30% of countries.

For just one year, the percentage so-called truster countries (that show higher trust in media, governments, NGOs and business) has fallen by 8% to just 22% in 2015. At the same time, distrusters have increased by 15% during the same period, reaching nearly 50% this year.

The report explains that 2014 was marked by a series of “unimaginable” and “unpredictable” events, which many countries had trouble copying. Those covered anything from data attacks and hacks to the biggest Ebola outbreak in history and unexplained plane crashes. The research states that all of them had a negative effect on global population’s trust.

Countries with highest trust in media, governments, NGOs and business for 2015: UAE (84%), India (79%), Indonesia (78%), China (75%), Singapore (65%), Netherlands (64%)

UAE is among the few countries that saw a trust increase during the past one year. Moreover, the country registered the highest trust in NGOs (81%), government (90%), as well as in business (85%) in the world. The country also has the second highest trust in media worldwide (79%).

But how has the UAE managed to escape the global distrust tendency? According to the report, the country continues to successfully expand its economy. In addition, the World Expo 2020 optimism continues to have a strong presence across many sectors. In addition, just like last year, the United Arab Emirates continues to be the steady hand in a neighborhood that is politically fractious.