Half of Icelanders show little trust in their government, OECD survey reveals

According to a survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), half of Icelanders have little to no trust in their government. This makes Iceland third on the list of countries where trust in authorities has decreased the most.

The survey revealed that only 36% of Icelandic citizens trust their government, which is three percentage points lower than the OECD average. This represents a significant drop from the 50% trust level recorded in 2021, marking a decrease of fourteen percentage points.

Despite the decline in trust towards the government, public trust towards the public administration is measured at 64%, above the OECD average. This suggests that while faith in political leadership may be waning, Icelanders still have relative confidence in their bureaucratic institutions.

The survey also highlighted that Icelanders have the highest trust in each other, with 82% of respondents stating that they trust other people. This is twenty percentage points higher than the OECD average, indicating a strong sense of community among the Icelandic population.

However, Icelanders have the least trust in political parties, with only a fifth of the nation stating that they trust the political parties in the country. This widespread mistrust in political parties could be a significant contributing factor to the overall decline in trust towards the government.