Public trust in science
How much trust have Dutch citizens in science? Has the level increased or decreased in recent years? Our trust in science is based on our hope and expectation that science will make our lives healthier, longer, more interesting and therefore more pleasant. Trust in science is an important parameter for assessing the impact of science. This factsheet contains a brief statistical overview of the current state of affairs concerning the trust of the Dutch citizens in science.
In short
- Of all the examined institutions, people trust ‘science’ the most with a score of 7.53 (2025)
- While the average level of trust in science has increased slightly since 2021, the percentage of people with low trust in science has also increased.
- People have high trust in science, except when it comes to conclusions non-scientific parties (e.g. journalists) draw based on scientific research, or how politicians use scientific insights for policy.
Public trust in science in the Netherlands
Trust in science was measured by the Rathenau Instituut in five surveys (2012, 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2025) conducted among a representative sample of the Dutch public. Respondents were asked to indicate on a scale of 1 (no trust) to 10 (complete trust) how much trust they have in a number of institutions.
Of all the institutions examined, science scores highest for trust: a 7.5 in 2025. Courts of law come in second with a 6.6. Newspapers and trade unions score a 5.7, while the Dutch parliament and television both score a 4.8. Large corporations score a 4.4, and the government a 4.3.
| 2012 | 2015 | 2018 | 2021 | 2025 | |
| Science | 7,1 | 7 | 7,1 | 7,4 | 7,5 |
| Courts of law | 6,4 | 6,3 | 6,5 | 6,9 | 6,6 |
| Newspapers | 5,9 | 5,8 | 5,8 | 6,1 | 5,7 |
| Trade unions | 5,8 | 5,7 | 5,8 | 6,1 | 5,7 |
| House of Representatives | 5,7 | 5,1 | 5,5 | 6 | 4,8 |
| Government | 5,5 | 4,9 | 5,5 | 6 | 4,3 |
| Television | 5,8 | 5,7 | 5,7 | 5,9 | 4,8 |
| Major corporations | 5,5 | 5,1 | 5,4 | 5,5 | 4,4 |
The high trust in science is not only apparent from the graph above. When we ask about the associations people have with science, they are almost all positive or neutral. When we ask about specific aspects of science, most have people express high trust in these various aspects. More than 70% of people in the Netherlands express trust in science as a knowledge-producing institute, in the scientific method, in scientists, and in the conclusions scientists draw based on scientific research. A minority (19%) of people, however, trust conclusions that non-scientists, such as journalists, draw based on scientific research, and even fewer people (10%) trust the way politicians use scientific insights for policy.
Other surveys also show high confidence in science. The figure below shows the percentage of the Dutch population that rate their confidence in science 6 or higher on a scale from 1 to 10, since 2007. It shows an increase in the confidence in science between 2018 and 2020/2021. Confidence in science reached a peak in 2020, with 90% of people rating their confidence 6 or higher, decreasing to 86% in 2022 and remaining at that level since then.
| Maand en jaar | Percentage |
| dec-07 | 86 |
| dec-08 | 84 |
| dec-09 | 85 |
| dec-10 | 83 |
| dec-11 | 82 |
| dec-12 | 82 |
| dec-13 | 85 |
| dec-15 | 86 |
| dec-16 | 86 |
| dec-17 | 87 |
| dec-18 | 87 |
| dec-19 | 88 |
| dec-20 | 90 |
| dec-21 | 89 |
| dec-22 | 86 |
| dec-23 | 86 |
| dec-24 | 86 |
Rise in the percentage of high and low grades
The average trust in science rose slightly in the last 4 years, from 7.42 in 2021 to 7.53 in 2025. The underlying distribution also changed during this period. The percentage of people that express low trust in science, i.e. 5 or less, has risen from 9.4% in 2021 to 14.6% in 2025. Simultaneously, the share of people expressing extremely high trust in science, i.e. 9 or 10, has also increased, from 20.6% in 2021 to 34.6% in 2025. The share of people expressing medium levels of trust, between 6 and 8, decreased, from 69.9% in 2021 to 51.3% in 2025.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Trust in science | 1,4 | 1,4 | 2,4 | 2,7 | 6,6 | 7,8 | 16,2 | 27,3 | 22,2 | 11,9 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Trust in science | 1 | 0,7 | 0,8 | 1,5 | 5,5 | 10 | 27,5 | 32,5 | 14,4 | 6,2 |
What personal factors correlate with trust in science?
The research shows that trust in science is related to level of education. More highly educated people have more trust in science than people with a lower educational level. People who come into contact with science more often, for example by reading about science in the paper, have, on average, more trust in science. People with more knowledge of science also have more trust in science on average.
Trust in science is also related to political preference. People who consider themselves left-wing and progressive politically rated their trust in science an 8.3 on average. For people who view themselves as right-wing and conservative this was on average a 6.9. Similar patterns can be seen looking at party affiliation. People that voted for Volt, GroenLinks-PvdA, D66, Partij voor de Dieren, or VVD in the 2023 Dutch national elections rated their trust in science on average above an 8.0. People that voted BBB, PVV, SGP or Forum voor Democratie in those elections rated their trust in average on average below a 7.0. Forum voor Democratie voters expressed the lowest average level of trust in science, at an average of 4.5. The connection between party affiliation and trust has also been observed for the other institutions, indicating a correlation between political orientation and general attitudes towards institutions.
Trust differs between research topics
In the 2025 survey we asked people how much trust they have in science concerned with particular topics or themes. We see big differences between trust levels between these different research topics. While more than 65% of people express trust in healthcare and vaccine research, 56% of people express trust in climate change research and less than 50% of people express trust in research on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), artificial intelligence (AI) and discrimination and inequality.
| Don't know/no opinion | Little or no trust | Neither a lot nor very little trust | A lot or all trust | |
| Healthcare | 0,8 | 9,6 | 15,4 | 74,2 |
| Vaccinations | 0,9 | 17,3 | 14,1 | 67,6 |
| Climate change | 1,2 | 24,3 | 19 | 55,5 |
| GMOs | 5,5 | 28,2 | 20,4 | 46 |
| AI | 6,4 | 22,8 | 26,6 | 44,1 |
| Discrimination and inequality | 6,4 | 28,1 | 26,6 | 39,1 |
Sources
LISS (Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social sciences) panel.
Tiemeijer, Will & De Jonge, Jos; Hoeveel vertrouwen hebben Nederlanders in wetenschap? WRR/Rathenau Instituut The Hague 2013. (in Dutch)
Rathenau Instituut. Trust in science 2015, Facts and figures 15. The Hague 2015.
Rathenau Instituut. Trust in science in the Netherlands 2018. The Hague 2018.
Rathenau Instituut. Vertrouwen van Nederlanders in wetenschap (enquête 2021). The Hague 2021. (in Dutch)
Rathenau Instituut. Vertrouwen in de wetenschap 2025. The Hague 2025. (in Dutch)