Within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mexicans are among those who express the most confidence in their central government, alongside Switzerland, Luxembourg, and some Anglo-Saxon or northern European countries.
In a survey conducted in October and November for the OECD report on perceptions of institutions published this Wednesday, 53.6% of Mexicans said they had great confidence in their government, compared to the average of 39.3% among the 30 participating countries.
Only two countries had higher percentages: Switzerland with 61.9% and Luxembourg with 55.6%.
Approaching Mexico, but below, were Canada (48.5%), Belgium (47.2%), Norway (47.6%), Finland (47%), and Ireland (46.6%).
Countries with the Least Trust in Their Government
The opinion of Mexicans about their executive contrasts with that of the other three Latin American countries in the OECD, where the level of trust is among the lowest.
Only 30.4% of Chileans, 32.1% of Colombians, and 34.8% of Costa Ricans said they had confidence in their governments.
Confidence levels were even lower in Slovenia (27.9%), the United Kingdom (26.7%), and especially in the Czech Republic (18.6%).
Improvements in Mexicans’ Perception of Justice, Integrity, and Reliability
In the document “Survey of Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions,” results 2024, the OECD explained that the Mexican population trusts the federal government more than the local governments.
For Mexico, people’s perception of the government’s reliability, sensitivity, openness, integrity, and justice improved.
The area in which trust in the Mexican government increased the most was integrity, which improved by 9 points, followed by justice with 8 points and reliability with 4 points.
Mexicans said they trust the government to make good use of their personal data if they have to provide their name, phone number, and address during a procedure. The same was true when asked how fairly they think they will be treated if they apply for government support.
In 2021, nearly 70% of Mexicans surveyed said it was unlikely that a government official would refuse a bribe to expedite a procedure, but in 2023 only 60% said it would be unlikely that they would refuse to receive money for a service. This means that the percentage of Mexicans who believe officials would reject a bribe rose from 30% to 40%.
The Higher the Educational Level, the Less Confidence in the Government
According to the survey in the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, in Mexico, “people with higher levels of education tend to have lower levels of high or moderate trust in the national government than people with lower educational levels.”
For Mexicans, Chileans, and Costa Ricans, one of the main concerns is crime and violence.
However, trust in the judicial system is low or lower than trust in the federal government in Chile, Colombia, Korea, Mexico, and the Slovak Republic.
Only in Mexico and Switzerland do half of the population believe that the government can find the right balance to serve the interests of current and future generations.
More than 40% of the population believes that the government will change a public policy if half of Mexicans are against it.
However, the percentage of people who think their opinion on tax increases or decreases can be taken into account rose from almost 30% in 2021 to nearly 40% in 2023.