KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has emerged as one of the world’s most trusted nations this year, ranking seventh globally in the Edelman Trust Barometer.
Edelman's 2026 annual study revealed that Malaysia’s overall Trust Index, which measures public trust in business, government, media and non-governmental organisations, rose to 71 this year, up from 66 last year.
The study said trust in all four institutions remained in “trust territory”, a distinction achieved by fewer than half of the 28 countries surveyed.
However, the report warned that much of the trust Malaysians place in institutions is confined within familiar social, political and cultural circles.
On average, 65% of Malaysians were found to hold an “insular trust mindset”, meaning they are reluctant to trust people who differ from them in values, approaches to societal issues, information sources or cultural background.
The report also showed that 87% of Malaysians believe distrust between people with differing views has become severe enough that individuals are trying to make life worse for one another; the highest figure recorded among all 28 markets surveyed.
At the same time, only 37% said they actively seek information from sources with different political viewpoints at least once a week.
Malaysia’s “domestic trust advantage,” in which the gap in trust between locally based companies and foreign firms stood at 18 points, reflecting what the report described as a growing retreat towards the familiar.
Edelman Malaysia chief executive officer and Edelman Southeast Asia senior advisor Mazuin Zin said while Malaysia’s strong trust rankings were a significant achievement, the findings pointed to a deeper challenge facing the country.
“Malaysia has earned its place among the world’s most trusted nations. That is a genuine achievement, and it matters for investment confidence, for institutional credibility, and for our standing in a world where trust has become a scarce resource.
“But the data points to a harder question. The trust Malaysians have built is largely trust within familiar circles, between people who share the same values, the same sources of information, the same communities.
“Malaysia cannot sustain its trust advantage while those fault lines deepen. Bridging them is not just a social imperative; it is the precondition for the next phase of our growth,” she said in her speech during the launch of the report.
According to the report, it said that 67% of employees worldwide said they worry about losing their jobs because of a looming recession, the highest level recorded by the survey.
Meanwhile, 66% expressed concern that international trade conflicts could negatively affect their employers.
The report said optimism among the locals over future prosperity has weakened, with only 39% believing the next generation will be better off than today, a seven-point drop from last year.
The study also highlighted widening trust disparities based on income, pointing to the Asia-Pacific region, where the trust gap between high- and low-income groups stood at 16 points, more than double the level recorded in 2012.
In Malaysia, the gap between higher- and lower-income groups was measured at nine points.
The report also noted that institutions capable of effectively “brokering trust” could help narrow those divides, citing global data showing that low-income individuals experience an 18-point increase in trust when institutions successfully foster inclusion and confidence.
Concerns over disinformation were also pronounced among Malaysians, in which some 73% of respondents said they fear foreign actors.
The fear is that “foreign actors” are deliberately spreading false information through the media to inflame domestic divisions, making Malaysia the second-highest country globally for such concerns after the United Arab Emirates.
The survey further found strong public expectations for institutions to play a more active role in bridging societal divides.
Across Asia Pacific, 77% of employees said employers have a responsibility to build trust between groups that distrust one another, although only 54% believed businesses were doing this effectively.
The expectation-performance gap was even wider for governments and media organisations, both at 37 points, while NGOs registered a 31-point gap.
Globally, respondents identified promoting a shared identity and culture within organisations as one of the most effective ways to bridge divisions, with 82% supporting the approach.
Another 81% said building teams comprising individuals with different values to work together towards common goals would help strengthen trust.
In Malaysia, respondents indicated businesses would earn the most trust on divisive social issues by encouraging cooperation without taking sides.
About 38% of Malaysians supported this approach, compared with 32% who preferred businesses to adopt values-based positions and 11% who believed companies should remain silent. - Star
