A global survey conducted by Ipsos between 19 June and 3 July 2026 found that 34% of South African respondents described their fellow citizens as trustworthy, placing South Africa in a group of countries in the middle of the 31-country ranking.
What the survey measured
The Ipsos Global Trustworthiness Index asked online adults whether they considered ordinary people in their country to be trustworthy, untrustworthy or to sit somewhere in the middle. The wider survey covered 23,537 respondents across 31 countries. The resulting ranking shows substantial variation between nations.
| Rank | Country | Trustworthy (%) | Untrustworthy (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 53 | 21 |
| 15 | South Africa | 34 | 23 |
| 31 | Japan | 16 | 20 |
How to read the results
Two features stand out in the Ipsos data. First, the share of respondents who explicitly label others as "trustworthy" varies widely; India records the highest share at 53% while Japan registers the lowest at 16%. Second, the survey highlights that a substantial portion of people in many countries choose the middle option rather than expressing clear trust or distrust. In other words, a low share saying "trustworthy" does not always equate to widespread mistrust.
- Top-ranked country: India with 53% calling fellow citizens trustworthy.
- South Africa: 34% trustworthy, 23% untrustworthy.
- Lowest-ranked country: Japan with 16% describing fellow citizens as trustworthy.
Context and consequences
Trust between ordinary people — often called social trust — matters for many aspects of public life. Higher levels of interpersonal trust are linked in the literature to easier cooperation, smoother everyday transactions and, in some cases, greater willingness to follow public-health advice. Conversely, where people are more guarded about others, collective action can be harder to achieve.
The Ipsos release notes that family ties and close-knit communities help explain high trust levels in some countries such as India, where people often report greater confidence in family members and neighbours. The survey does not, however, attribute causation; it reports perceptions captured at a single point in mid-2026.
For South Africa, a nation with complex social and economic divisions, a mid-table result suggests mixed public sentiment. Around a third of respondents express clear confidence in fellow citizens, but nearly a quarter describe them as untrustworthy. The remainder of respondents are likely clustered in the middle category, signalling ambivalence rather than polarised views.
Limitations to keep in mind
This was an online survey of adults and therefore reflects the views of people reachable through Ipsos’s online panels during the survey window. Cross‑country comparisons can be affected by differences in how people interpret survey questions, the composition of samples, and national contexts. Ipsos’s data are descriptive: they document perceptions rather than proving why those perceptions exist.
Policymakers, researchers and civil-society organisations can use such snapshots as one input when assessing social cohesion and designing interventions. But they should combine these findings with local research and longer-term trends before drawing firm conclusions about changes in trust.
The Ipsos Global Trustworthiness Index offers a useful starting point to compare perceptions of interpersonal trust internationally. For South Africa, the figure that matters most for public life may be not only how many people say they trust others, but why the remainder express doubt or ambivalence, and whether those attitudes are shifting over time.
