Wellcome Trust · Trust in Scientists
Trust in scientists by country
What share of people trust the scientists in their own country a lot?
Of the 113 countries compared in 2020, Belgium had the highest reading, 72.354%, and Nigeria had the lowest reading, 9.335%. In the middle country the figure was 34.354%.
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Part ofEducation & Knowledge
Trust in scientists · 2020
Context statistic
Highest of 113Belgium
72.354%012020 · values only
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 113 compared, the three with the lowest, and the highest on each continent. This statistic has no better end, so no country is shown as leading.
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02Every measured country
Trust in scientists on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value. This statistic has no better end, so the shades describe size, not success.
- 9.335–18.797%
- 18.920–27.758%
- 28.269–37.192%
- 39.396–52.953%
- 53.113–72.354%
- No reading in 2020 (33 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
45.214%
the middle country, of 37 measured · 49 members
Belgium72.354%
North Macedonia11.110%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
31.315%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 48 members
Canada56.004%
Bolivia12.535%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
30.878%
the middle country, of 33 measured · 52 members
Tajikistan59.505%
Hong Kong10.019%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
22.067%
the middle country, of 24 measured · 55 members
Egypt51.098%
Nigeria9.335%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
2 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia62.714%
New Zealand58.008%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
19 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
63.797%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Belgium72.354%
France58.397%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
60.120%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 13 members
Norway72.034%
Lithuania28.269%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Southern Europe
36.974%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Spain70.572%North Macedonia11.110%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Southern Asia
36.852%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
India51.978%
Nepal22.797%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
36.634%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Czechia57.230%
Moldova21.720%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Western Asia
34.181%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 19 members
Saudi Arabia50.064%
Georgia19.986%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- South America
27.501%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Argentina55.002%Bolivia12.535%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Western Africa
22.651%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 16 members
Senegal45.698%Nigeria9.335%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
22.209%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 11 members
Philippines51.539%
Indonesia11.819%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Asia
21.834%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
China52.953%Hong Kong10.019%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
18.797%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 19 members
Zimbabwe36.316%
Mauritius12.046%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia62.714%New Zealand58.008%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic18.920%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central America
4 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua.
Costa Rica40.804%
El Salvador16.966%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Tajikistan59.505%
Kyrgyzstan21.716%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Middle Africa
3 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo.
Republic of the Congo18.692%
Gabon10.407%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Egypt51.098%
Algeria36.909%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada56.004%
United States53.942%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Southern Africa
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Namibia, South Africa.
South Africa28.546%
Namibia16.096%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
113 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 34.354%; a quarter are above 50.327%, and a quarter below 21.032%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 146 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. This measures an attitude, not the quality of a country's science, and the page treats neither end as better: answering 'some' rather than 'a lot' can be healthy caution as easily as distrust. The share answering 'some' is shown beside the headline, because together they say more than either alone.
Showing 25 of 146 countries
Values for 2020. The change column compares 2020 with 2018 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052018 → 2020
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Rose most
before → afterFell most
before → after
Guinea36.266% → 17.350%−18.916
Uzbekistan65.557% → 48.954%−16.604
Uganda30.281% → 17.243%−13.038- Nigeria20.392% → 9.335%−11.057
Cameroon19.983% → 10.509%−9.474
111 countries were measured in both 2018 and 2020. The field changed from 144 to 113 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
06Across every edition
Trust in scientists in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
72.354%
People aged 15+ who trust scientists in their country 'a lot' (%)
Lowest reading on record
5.676%
People aged 15+ who trust scientists in their country 'a lot' (%)
Biggest rise between editions
+25.495
24.832% → 50.327%
Biggest fall between editions
−18.916
36.266% → 17.350%
Biggest change since first measured
+25.495
24.832% → 50.327%
07The measure
About trust in scientists
This is the share of people who say they trust the scientists in their own country 'a lot', from the Wellcome Global Monitor — a survey of about a thousand people in each country carried out by Gallup for the Wellcome Trust in 2018 and again in 2020. It is the widest cross-country measure of public trust in science.
What the number is: People aged 15+ who trust scientists in their country 'a lot' (%).
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Education & Knowledge, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where trust in scientists is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- World Energy Trilemma IndexKeyWorld Energy Council · 101 countries in commonρ 0.64
- Women's Empowerment IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women · 90 countries in commonρ 0.64
- RISE Energy Efficiency Policy ScoreESMAP · 101 countries in commonρ 0.63
Moves against
Where trust in scientists is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Mortality Rate, Ages 5–14UN IGME · 111 countries in commonρ −0.61
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 109 countries in commonρ −0.61
- Firms Competing Against Informal FirmsWorld Bank Group · 109 countries in commonρ −0.60
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 318 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
10Questions
Trust in scientists: questions and answers
Which country has the highest trust in scientists?
Belgium, at 72.354%, among the 113 countries compared in 2020.
Which country has the lowest trust in scientists?
Nigeria, at 9.335%, among the 113 countries compared in 2020.
How many countries does the Trust in Scientists cover?
113 in 2020, and 146 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 113 to 144 between editions.
What is the world average trust in scientists?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 113 compared in 2020, the figure was 34.354%.
Is this Wellcome Trust’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. Wellcome Trust publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Trust in Scientists published?
This site holds 2 editions, describing 2018 to 2020.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Wellcome Trust, under CC BY 4.0. From Wellcome's own crosstab workbooks for the 2018 and 2020 rounds: the weighted share answering 'a lot', with people who did not know or refused to answer included in the base. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Trust in Scientists — Wellcome Trust
From Wellcome's own crosstab workbooks for the 2018 and 2020 rounds: the weighted share answering 'a lot', with people who did not know or refused to answer included in the base.
Newest edition
Report year 2020Data year 2020
Cite the source as: Wellcome Trust. Wellcome Global Monitor 2020: Covid-19. London: Wellcome, 2021; and Wellcome Global Monitor 2018: How does the world feel about science and health? London: Wellcome, 2019.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: Wellcome Trust publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- This statistic has no better end, so the page describes higher and lower values and never calls a country a leader.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Trust in scientists by country: Trust in Scientists, data from Wellcome Trust. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/trust-in-scientists