The OECD Trust Survey explores people’s perceptions of different public institutions in their country and the degree to which they trust their government. These perceptions range from day-to-day interactions with public institutions to decision making on complex policy issues. Initiated in 2021, the Trust Survey was carried out in 30 OECD countries in October and November 2023, with results representative of their respective adult populations (18 years old and above).
OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions 2024 Results - Country Notes: Costa Rica
Trust in public institutions
In 2023, 35% of Costa Ricans reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, below the OECD average of 39%.
Figure 1. Trust in national government, 2023
Share of population who indicate different levels of trust in their national government (on a 0-10 scale), 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the national government?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
As in most OECD countries, Costa Ricans place more trust in the police (48%), courts and the judicial system (44%) and other people (43%) than in the national government (35%). Slightly more than one-third of the population reports high or moderately high trust in news media (35%) and local government (34%). Political parties (13%) and national parliament (26%) are the least trusted institutions in Costa Rica.
Figure 2. Share of population with high or moderately high trust in different public institutions, other people and media, 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust [institution]?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4. The OECD average for ‘regional civil service’ is omitted because the question is asked only in selected countries. In Costa Rica, the regional civil service refers to the local civil service.
Costa Ricans who feel that the current political system does not let people like them have a say tend to trust the national government 41 percentage points less than those who feel they have political voice. This trust gap is smaller than the 47 percentage points gap on average across OECD countries.
Men in Costa Rica on average are more likely to have high or moderately high trust in the national government (40%) than women do (30%). This trust gap is larger than the 7 percentage point average gender trust gap across OECD countries.
The Costa Rican trust gaps between people with lower and higher educational attainment and between those with and without financial concerns are below the OECD average, while the trust gap between younger and older people is above the OECD average.
Figure 3. Share of population with high or moderately high trust in the national government by population group, 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the national government?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
Perceptions of the public governance drivers of trust
Perceptions of day-to-day interactions with public institutions
In half of the measures considered, Costa Ricans’ satisfaction with day-to-day interactions with public institutions is above the OECD average.
A large majority of Costa Ricans (64%) with recent experience with the education system are satisfied with it, compared to 57% on average across the OECD. Among recent users of administrative services, 66% are satisfied; this important driver of trust in the civil service is in line with the OECD average.
Costa Ricans find it more likely than the OECD average that public services are improved if people complain: 45% of people in Costa Rica find this likely, compared to the OECD average of 39%.
Perceptions of integrity of public employees are low in most countries: Only 29% of Costa Ricans expect that public employees would refuse bribes to speed up service access, below the OECD average of 36%.
Figure 4. Perceptions of day-to-day interactions between the population and public institutions
Share of population who are satisfied with public services or find a positive action in the respective situation likely, OECD and Costa Rica, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Costa Rica of the share of respondents who choose a response of 6-10 on the 0-10 scale for the above questions. Satisfaction with public services is restricted to recent service users.
Perceptions of decision making on complex policy issues
Costa Rica performs similar to the OECD average on many measures of decision-making on complex policy issues. However, in Costa Rica and across the OECD, a lower share of people has positive perceptions regarding complex decision-making than about day-to-day interactions with public institutions.
A majority of Costa Ricans (55%) are confident that Costa Rica will succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next 10 years, a share that is 13 percentage points higher than the average across OECD countries (42%).
Slightly less than half in Costa Rica (47%) believe the government adequately balances the interests of current and future generations, a share that is 10 percentage points higher than the average across OECD countries (37%).
In contrast, only 31% of people in Costa Rica find it likely that parliament adequately balances the needs of different regions and groups in society, compared to 36% on average across OECD countries.
Around one-fifth of Costa Ricans (22%) believe that the political system allows people like them to have a say in what government does. This important driver of trust in the national government is 8 percentage points lower than on average across OECD countries (30%).
Figure 5. Perceptions of government decision making on complex policy issues
Share of population who are confident in or find a positive action in the respective situation likely, OECD and Costa Rica, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Costa Rica of the share of respondents who choose a response of 6-10 on the 0-10 scale for the above questions.
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This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
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