Finns´ trust in govt institutions declines sharply: OECD

The confidence of Finnish people in the public institutions declined significantly during the recent period, according to survey report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday.

The trust figure has declined by 14 percentage points from the figure in 2021 and the drop was second-highest among the 18 OECD countries.

According to the survey, the trust of Finns (47 percent) in government, however, was higher than OECD average (39 percent).

The Ministry of Finance in a press release on Wednesday said that the price hike and concerns about the healthcare services were the main reasons behind the fall of people´s trust in the government institutions.

Among the government institutions Finns have strong trust in the police and judicial sysem.

Finnish people place more trust in the police (87%), other people (78%) and courts and the judicial system (74%) than in the national government.

More than half of the population reports high or moderately high trust in the national civil service (62%), news media (61%), local government (56%) and national parliament (54%).

Although above OECD average, political parties (37%) are the least trusted institutions in Finland.

The Trust Survey was carried out in 30 OECD countries in October and November 2023, with results representative of their respective adult populations.