Turkey was ranked last among 25 countries in a new Pew Research Center analysis based on survey data on social trust, with 14 percent of adults saying most people can be trusted and 84 percent saying most people cannot be trusted.
According to survey data, 20 percent in Kenya and 18 percent in Mexico said most people can be trusted. Brazil stood at 22 percent.
At the top of the list, 83 percent in Sweden said most people can be trusted, while 79 percent in the Netherlands and 73 percent in Canada said the same. In the United States, 55 percent said most people can be trusted.
The survey question asked respondents which statement came closer to their view: “Most people can be trusted” or “Most people can’t be trusted.”
Pew’s findings are based on nationally representative surveys of 28,333 adults in the non-US countries polled, conducted from January 8 to April 26, 2025. Turkey was surveyed face-to-face, along with Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa.
In the United States, Pew surveyed 9,544 adults from February 3 to 9, 2025, using its American Trends Panel, with interviews conducted online or by telephone with a live interviewer, and results weighted to represent the US adult population.
Pew reported that trust was higher in the high-income countries it surveyed than in the middle-income ones. Across 16 high-income countries, a median of 59 percent said most people can be trusted, compared with a median of 27 percent in nine middle-income countries. Pew listed Turkey, Mexico, Kenya and Brazil among the lowest trust countries in the middle-income group.
Pew’s income groupings refer readers to the World Bank’s country classifications, which are updated annually and are based on gross national income per person.
Pew’s topline results show no change for Turkey compared with its prior year reading on this measure. The share saying most people can be trusted was 14 percent in spring 2025 and 14 percent in spring 2024.
Pew said trust has risen in some places it previously surveyed in 2020 or 2024, pointing to increases such as Germany and Sweden since 2020 and Indonesia since 2024, while France fell compared with 2020.
Pew also reported gaps within countries tied to education, income and age. It said people with more education tend to be more trusting than those with less in most countries surveyed, using France as an example, and said older adults are more trusting than younger adults in 11 mostly high-income countries, citing Australia as an example.