The Acumen Edelman Trust Barometer shows a sense of grievance, as business remains most trusted institution in Aotearoa New Zealand.

A sense of grievance is taking hold in New Zealand, with 67% of New Zealanders expressing a moderate or higher sense of grievance, a figure that surpasses the global average of 61%. This is defined by a belief that government and business harm them and serve narrow interests, and ultimately the wealthy benefit while the regular people struggle.

In its 25th year, the Edelman Trust Barometer is a global study published every January that covers a range of timely and important societal indicators of trust among business, media, government and NGOs, shaping conversations for the upcoming year. More than 33,000 people took part in the 2025 global survey across 28 markets. Additionally, the Edelman Trust Institute also conducted the 2025 Trust Barometer research among  1,150 respondents from Aotearoa New Zealand in partnership with Acumen.

The Trust Index (average level of trust across business, NGOs, government and media) in New Zealand has been declining incrementally since 2022 and for the first time since 2022 the Trust Index puts us in the distrust category. Australia too has moved from neutral to distrust in the last year. Many of our major trading partners are also firmly in the distrust category, including Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

While business remains the most trusted institution in New Zealand, and the only institution seen as both competent and ethical, it was the only institution that had a statistically significant decline of 6 percentage points since 2024.

“This year, the Trust Barometer showed New Zealanders are feeling overlooked by those in power and disillusioned as a result,” Adelle Keely, Acumen Chief Executive says. “While business is still our most trusted institution, its trajectory is not going in the right direction. This year’s results should be a major wake-up call to all leaders. The New Zealand public expect more from our institutions.

Grievance is accompanied by three core psychosocial components, a lack of hope for the next generation, a lack of trust in business leaders, and worry that key institutional leaders are purposely lying to us.

The Trust barometer shows only 19% of New Zealanders believe the next generation will be better off compared to today, with the global average sitting at 36%. There is also intense scepticism of government officials, business leaders and journalists with on average 61% reporting they worry about the leaders purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false, and 68% say it’s becoming harder to tell if the news being reported was produced by a respectable source or an individual trying to deceive people.

Keely says this principle of grievance is not unusual, but the Trust Barometer results are especially worrying given how universal this feeling is.

“The levels of trust felt in the lower income brackets has been relatively stable for the past four years, but where we have seen a substantial decline is in the higher income levels, with an 8 point drop this year alone in the Trust Index. Whilst this closes a gap in society - it’s potentially because of growing disillusionment, not increasing trust.

“The grievance being reflected in this year’s Trust Barometer is indiscriminate. People of varying levels of income, and status in society are feeling disenfranchised, and hopeless. The risk is that if our institutional leaders do not respond, these trends will be further exacerbated year on year,” Keely says.

Action is needed to combat key societal pressure-points across areas such as affordability, climate change and job security. This is critical to building back trust in the institutions.

Keely says as business is still the most trusted of the institutions, it has the opportunity to listen to society’s call to action and lead to by example.

“As trust increases, grievances tend to dissolve, and optimism grows. Rebuilding trust in organisations will have a genuine impact on New Zealanders’ sense of optimism and hope for the future,” Keely says.

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