Mexicans have a much higher level of confidence in their national government than the average of citizens of OECD member countries and other Latin American countries, particularly in Peru, Guatemala, Chile, and Paraguay, where distrust is very high. In a report published this Monday and dedicated to ten Latin American countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) explains that 53.61% of Mexicans surveyed said they have a high or moderately high level of confidence in their government. It is the only one of these ten countries with a percentage over 50% (the second is Ecuador with 49.95%) and is well above both the OECD average (39.30%) and, above all, the average of the ten Latin American countries in the study (35.18%). In the other eight Latin American countries, the percentage of those with high confidence is below the OECD average. This is the case in the Dominican Republic (38.85%), Brazil (38.11%), Costa Rica (34.80%), Colombia (32.10%), but especially in Chile (30.37%), Paraguay (27.08%), Guatemala (26.53%), and Peru (20.42%). The survey in Mexico, as in the other Latin American countries that are also members of the OECD (Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica), was conducted between October and November 2023, during the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, while it was carried out in May 2025 in the other six (Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, and the Dominican Republic). Globally, Latin Americans show slightly higher levels of confidence in local governments (37% compared to 35.18% in national ones) and lower levels in the entire public administration (32%) and in the legislative systems (27%). The authors emphasize that satisfaction with administrative services is a central element and the main determinant of trust in the Administration and is also associated with higher levels of trust in the national government. The OECD Secretary-General, Mathias Cormann, highlighted that this survey shows that “if high-quality public services are guaranteed and progress is made in resolving complex issues, the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean can boost public trust”. “The way in which citizens perceive how governments balance the interests of current and future generations, and how they use the best available information to make complex political decisions, decisively influences levels of trust in both the national government and the civil service”.
