of people worldwide trust scientists to do what is right — the highest-trusted group measured
Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 — general population, 28 markets, n=33,938, fielded Oct 25–Nov 16, 2025
Scientists are the most believed people on earth. Across 28 countries, 76% of the public trusts them to do what is right, 27 points ahead of the government leaders who rank last on the same list, according to the 26th annual Edelman Trust Barometer, fielded October 25 to November 16, 2025 among 33,938 respondents. Teachers rank second, at 73%. Below them sits a wide plateau of untitled people — neighbors and fellow citizens, both at 64% — ahead of every category that depends on a formal title: politicians the respondent voted for (58%), CEOs (54%), government leaders (49%).
The credibility ladder, ranked
The pattern holds across the groups Edelman asks about by name: the closer a category sits to documented, checkable expertise or lived proximity, the higher it scores; the more it rests on institutional rank alone, the lower it scores.
| Who | Trust to "do what is right," 2026 | Change vs. 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Scientists | 76% | -1 pt |
| Teachers | 73% | -2 pt |
| My neighbors | 64% | +3 pt |
| Citizens of my country | 64% | +1 pt |
| Politicians I voted for | 58% | +2 pt |
| CEOs | 54% | +1 pt |
| Government leaders | 49% | +2 pt |
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2026, question TRU_PEP ("please indicate how much you trust that group of people to do what is right"), 28-market general-population average.
Proximity beats title
The same job description scores very differently depending on whether it is abstract or specific. CEOs as a category sit at 54% — but among employees, "my CEO" is trusted by 66%, a 12-point gap. Business as an institution scores 64% — but "my employer," rated only by people who actually work there, reaches 78%, a 14-point gap. Citizenship shows the same split: "citizens of my country" (64%) and "my neighbors" (64%) both outscore the political categories built on national abstraction, "politicians I voted for" (58%) and "government leaders" (49%). Believability tracks distance more than rank: a known individual with a visible track record beats an anonymous holder of the same title.
Institutions still trail individuals
Edelman’s separate institutional index — trust in types of organizations rather than groups of people — points the same way. Globally, respondents trust their own employer most (78%), ahead of business as a sector (64%), NGOs (58%), media (54%) and government (53%), each up 0 to 2 points on 2025. Even business, the top-scoring institution, only ties the lowest untitled-person category (neighbors and fellow citizens, 64% each) and trails scientists by 12 points. No institution in the index outscores a scientist; only "my employer" beats that category, and only because employees are rating something they experience directly, not an abstraction.
For anyone whose work depends on being believed rather than merely being titled — experts, consultants, founders, in-house specialists — the ranking argues for the same two levers twice over: build a documented, checkable track record, the trait that puts scientists and teachers at the top; and shrink the distance between the audience and the specific person doing the work, the trait that puts "my CEO" 12 points above "CEOs." Title alone buys neither.
Methodology
- Sources
- 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, 26th annual edition, fielded October 25–November 16, 2025 among 33,938 respondents across 28 countries (about 1,200 per market). Trust-in-people figures (scientists, teachers, neighbors, citizens, politicians voted for, CEOs, government leaders) are from the report’s TRU_PEP question, general-population, 28-market average, chart "Despite Decline, Scientists and Teachers Remain Most Trusted." The institutional index (employer, business, NGOs, media, government) is from the report’s institutional trust index. "My CEO" (66%) and "my employer" (78%, among employees) are from Edelman’s official release of the global report. Full report: edelman.com; release: PR Newswire.
- Scope limits
- All ranked figures are 28-market averages; country-level trust varies well beyond the global mean, and Edelman’s public release does not break out every market. The source chart also includes an eighth category, journalists, which we omit here: two independent readings of the same table returned conflicting figures (49% and 54%), and we chose not to publish a number we could not resolve rather than guess. The trust-in-people question and the institutional-trust index are two different survey items — trust in a group of people versus trust in a type of organization — and are discussed side by side for comparison, not as one scale.
- Updates
- This brief will be revised as new data is published. Corrections are handled under our corrections policy.