Trust In Science Has Declined, With Levels Lower Than Before The Covid-19 Pandemic
The Wellcome Global Monitor 2026, surveying more than 140,000 people in 140 countries, also finds that the steepest declines are among people who feel they are struggling to get by financially.
Trust in science has fallen since the Covid-19 pandemic and is now below 2018 levels, according to the latest findings from the Wellcome Global Monitor 2026, the world’s largest study into how people think and feel about science.
Across the countries included in all three waves of the study, conducted in 2018, 2020 and 2025, the proportion of people expressing at least some trust in science fell from 77% in 2018 to 72% in 2025. This follows a rise to 80% during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The findings also show sharp differences between countries and demographic groups. The steepest declines are among people who feel they are struggling financially. In 2025, people who felt they were living comfortably were almost twice as likely to report “a lot” of trust in science (at 39%) as those who felt they were finding it difficult to get by (at 20%).
Understanding where and why trust is under pressure matters because it affects how people engage with and benefit from science. Launched at the World Health Summit 2026 in Berlin, the Wellcome Global Monitor provides a global evidence base to help researchers, decision-makers and communicators identify where deeper local understanding is needed.
While trust in science has fallen from its pandemic peak globally, Europe has remained relatively resilient. Western and Southern Europe were the only regions globally where trust remained above 2018 levels in 2025, while Northern Europe broadly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
In sub-Saharan Africa, trust declined across all three survey waves, with just 21% of people reporting “a lot” of trust in science in 2025, down from 28% in 2018. This decline was accompanied by an increase in the proportion of people reporting “not much” trust, rising from 16% in 2018 to 21% in 2025, and an increase in the proportion of people reporting “not at all” trust, rising from 5% in 2018 to 9% in 2025.
Northern Africa followed a different path. Although trust in science fell, with the proportion of people reporting “a lot” of trust in science declining from 44% in 2020 to 28% in 2025, views of science’s benefits became more positive. The proportion saying that “very few” people in their country benefit from science fell from 23% in 2018 to 17% in 2025.
Country-level findings reveal further differences beneath these regional trends:
· In Ethiopia, just 19% of people reported “a lot” of trust in science in 2025. Trust was also sharply divided by financial circumstances: 46% of people living comfortably trusted science “a lot”, compared with just 16% of those finding it difficult or very difficult to get by.
· In South Africa, attitudes towards science were notably divided. While 51% of people reported at least “some” trust in science, 39% reported “not much” or “not at all” trust.
· In Algeria, trust in science fell after its pandemic-era peak, but perceptions of science’s benefits continued to improve. The proportion saying that “most” people in the country benefit from science rose from 12% in 2018 to 42% in 2025, highlighting that trust in science and belief in its benefits do not always move together.
· In Kenya, trust in science varied substantially by age: 25% of people aged 15–24 said they trusted science “a lot,” compared with just 6% of those aged 65 and over.
While the findings do not point to a single explanation for changing attitudes, they provide an unparalleled picture of how and where trust is changing over time worldwide.
“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.”
“We know that scientific discovery remains essential to our progress, but that science alone is not enough. Trust must be earned through openness, transparency and a willingness to understand and respond to the reality of people’s lives for the benefits of science to be realised.” John-Arne Røttingen, CEO, Wellcome
People trust science when they feel it works for them
Trust in science is closely connected to people’s wider experience of the systems and institutions around them. The Wellcome Global Monitor 2026 finds that trust levels are associated with factors including confidence in public institutions, access to healthcare and education, and whether people feel financially secure.
The gap in trust between those who feel financially secure and those who do not has widened since the pandemic. Among people who felt they were struggling financially, the proportion reporting “a lot” of trust in science fell by 16 percentage points between 2020 and 2025. Among those who felt they were living comfortably; it fell by 10 percentage points.
These findings do not show that any one factor causes trust to rise or fall. It is also connected to whether people feel that science and the systems around it are accessible, relevant and working in their interests.
Healthcare is one of the most tangible ways people experience science in practice. Globally, 26% of people reported “a lot” of trust in science. Among those with a lot of confidence in their country’s hospitals and health clinics, this rose to 43%.
“The Wellcome Global Monitor shows that trust in science does not exist in isolation. People are more likely to trust science when institutions work for them, healthcare is accessible, and science is relevant to their lives. Building trust means appreciating people’s experiences, values and concerns, and ensuring the benefits of science are shared across the whole of society.” Mark Henderson, Director, Corporate Affairs and Engagement, Wellcome
Global decline masks sharp differences
Global averages can conceal sharp differences between regions, countries and communities. In seven global regions, trust has returned close to 2018 levels; in five, trust is now lower than in 2018; and in only two has it increased.
In Western Asia, Central Asia and some parts of Africa, for example, trust declined across all three waves of the Wellcome Global Monitor, rather than following the pandemic-era rise and subsequent fall seen elsewhere.
Country-level trends can diverge sharply even within the same region. In South America, 74% of people in Brazil reported at least some trust in science in 2025, up from 64% in 2018. In Chile, the equivalent figure was 63%, down from 75% in 2018 and 81% in 2020.
Other measures can follow different trajectories from trust. In Algeria and Tajikistan, perceptions of the benefits of science continued to improve after the pandemic, while in India they were sustained.
These figures relate to perceptions of the benefits of science, rather than the separate measure of trust in science.
“These findings show why regional perspectives matter. Trust in science is shaped by people’s lived experiences, including whether they can access and benefit from the systems and knowledge that science produces. In Africa, that means asking where research comes from, who leads and funds it, and whether local communities and institutions have ownership of, and benefit from, its results. Research that is locally led and responsive to local priorities can help build stronger, more meaningful trust.” Evelyn Gitau, Chief Scientific Officer, Science for Africa Foundation
What happens next
The Wellcome Global Monitor identifies where trust in science is under pressure, where it remains resilient and which groups may feel poorly served. It cannot, on its own, explain what is driving differences in trust in every place or context.
It provides a global evidence base for governments, researchers, funders, health systems, and civil-society organisations to ask deeper questions in their own contexts: where trust is weakest, whose experiences may be overlooked, and what would help ensure the benefits of science are accessible, relevant, and equitably shared.
Wellcome will continue to track trust through future Wellcome Global Monitor waves. A new qualitative phase, to be published in Autumn 2027, will explore the experiences behind the data in selected countries, helping explain why trust is changing and how local context shapes it.