Trust in science has declined globally, but the decline is far from uniform. Understanding where trust is under pressure, and why, matters because trust affects how people engage with and benefit from science.
The Wellcome Global Monitor is the world's largest study of how people think and feel about science and health. The 2026 edition draws on surveys of more than 140,000 people in 140 countries, making it a uniquely rich and globally comparable data set on public trust in science.
This is the third wave of the Wellcome Global Monitor, following surveys in 2018 and 2020. Over the course of these surveys, we saw trust rise during the pandemic, when science was more visible in people's lives, but that rise has not been sustained. Today, trust in science is below 2018 levels globally.
Global averages only tell part of the story. Trust levels vary widely between and within countries, and it is closely linked to people's everyday experiences of healthcare, of public institutions and of whether they feel they are getting by.
The full report, the dataset, country and regional factsheets and an interactive dashboard are all freely available.
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In 2025, 72% of people reported 'some' or 'a lot' of trust in science, down from 80% in 2020 and from a high of 77% in 2018 when we first ran the survey.
The share of people with little or no trust in science has grown. 19% said they trusted science 'not much' or 'not at all' in 2025, up from 13% in both 2018 and 2020.
Scientists remain among the most trusted groups in society, but their position is the least stable. The proportion of people who trust scientists 'a lot' rose from 34% in 2018 to 43% in 2020, before falling to 32% in 2025. That is a larger fall than for any other group the Monitor asks about.
Note on trends: these figures are based on the 108 countries surveyed in all three waves. The survey method in China changed between waves, and because of China's population size this affects the global figures. When China is excluded, trust between 2018 and 2025 looks more stable. With or without China, the share of people who trust science 'a lot' has fallen since 2020.
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Trust in science is lowest among people who feel they are struggling to get by. In 2025, people who reported living comfortably on their present income were around twice as likely to trust science 'a lot' (39%) as those who said they were finding it difficult (20%). Since 2018, that gap has widened from 13 to 19 percentage points.
People with less confidence in national institutions, lower trust in government and higher perceptions of corruption were less likely to trust science. Countries with greater economic inequality also tend to have lower trust in science.
Experiences of healthcare matter. Globally, 26% of people trust science 'a lot'. Among people with a lot of confidence in their country's hospitals and health clinics, that rises to 43%.
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Most people feel science benefits them personally: 81% said the work of scientists benefits people like them. But far fewer feel those benefits are shared fairly across society. Just over a third (37%) said science benefits 'most' people in their country, and one in five (20%) said it benefits 'very few'.
People who trust science are more positive about its benefits, in every one of the 140 countries surveyed. People with at least some trust in science were 23 percentage points more likely to say science benefits most people in their country.
Read chapter 3: How does trust relate to the perceived benefits of science?
Public trust shapes whether scientific advances can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. As the world faces increasing challenges, from infectious diseases to climate change and mental health, science has the potential for shaping a healthier future, but only if people trust that it is a force for good. The Wellcome Global Monitor shows us we can’t take that trust for granted.
Go beyond the headlines. Access the full Wellcome Global Monitor dataset, download factsheets, and explore interactive visualisations that let you compare attitudes to science and health across 80 countries. Whether you're a researcher, policymaker, or journalist, the data is open and ready for your own analysis.
The Wellcome Trust (2026) Wellcome Global Monitor – Trust in science under pressure. https://doi.org/10.21955/wellcomeopenres.1115455.1
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