Press Release
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.
Additional findings include:
The global decline is not uniform. In five regions, trust is lower than in 2018; in seven, it has returned close to 2018 levels; and in two, it has increased.
Trust in scientists continues to exceed trust in government and journalists, but it has also been more volatile. The share of people reporting "a lot" of trust in scientists rose from 34% in 2018 to 43% during the pandemic in 2020, before falling to 32% in 2025, a sharper shift than for other institutions measured.
Trust in science is closely associated with confidence in healthcare systems. Globally, 26% of people reported “a lot” of trust in science, rising to 43% among those with “a lot” of confidence in their country's hospitals and health clinics.
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.
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Notes to editors
For any media enquiries, please contact: WGM@portland-communications.com or +44 7769 357327. For further information, including access to the Wellcome Global Monitor 2026 report, full dataset, country and regional factsheets, and interactive dashboard, visit wellcome.org/globalmonitor.
Watch the livestream and recording of the launch at the World Health Summit on Monday, October 12, 2026, from 14:00 to 15:30 CEST here.
About the Wellcome Global Monitor
The Wellcome Global Monitor is the world’s largest study into how people think and feel about science.
It provides globally comparable evidence on how trust in science varies across countries, regions and demographic groups, and how it changes over time.
The 2026 report presents findings from fieldwork carried out in 2025. It is the third wave of the Monitor, following surveys in 2018 and 2020. It draws on research with more than 140,000 adults in 140 countries and was delivered through a partnership between Wellcome, Gallup and Ipsos.
Wellcome funds research into understanding public trust in science, recognising the central role trust plays in understanding how scientific knowledge is received, shared, interpreted and acted upon, particularly in global health decision-making.
About Wellcome
Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we’re taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.
About the World Health Summit
The World Health Summit is the leading platform for global health. Founded in 2009, it brings together stakeholders from politics, science, the private sector, and civil society to set the agenda for a healthier future. The annual Summit is held every October in Berlin, organized by the WHS Foundation GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The Summits are complemented each year by a WHS Regional Meeting held in a different part of the world, where regional health priorities take center stage.
Methodology
The 2026 report is based on a survey carried out in 2025 as part of the Gallup World Poll. More than 140,000 adults were surveyed across 140 countries, using nationally representative samples and a combination of face-to-face, telephone and online interviews.
Trend analysis is based on the countries included in all three waves of fieldwork: 2018, 2020 and 2025.
Ipsos conducted the data analysis and examined global, regional, and demographic patterns in trust in science, as well as relationships between trust and wider social, political, and economic conditions. The analysis drew on standardised socio-demographic measures and external data sources, including Gallup wellbeing indices and the World Bank’s Gini coefficient.
The Wellcome Global Monitor can identify patterns, differences and associations, but it cannot establish why those patterns exist or prove that one factor causes another. Country and regional averages can also conceal important differences between demographic groups and places.
Survey methods changed between some waves, which may affect comparisons over time. This is particularly important in China, where interviews were conducted face-to-face in 2018, by telephone in 2020 and through an incentivised online panel in 2025.
Further detail on the methodology, analysis and limitations is available in the Technical Report wellcome.org/globalmonitor.
Press Contact
World Health Summit Communications Team
Anna Störmer & Marie Wolf
communications@worldhealthsummit.org