Informat.ro Barometer – INSCOP Research: How trust in the Government is distributed among the population

For years, the Government has consistently ranked among the last places in opinion polls regarding trust in institutions, and the situation does not seem to change even at the beginning of 2026. According to the latest Barometer Informat.ro – INSCOP Research, conducted between January 12-15, the Executive occupies the second-to-last position in the ranking, and the percentage of trust it enjoys is on a downward trend, reaching 18.5% in January 2026, compared to 20.4% in July 2025.

However, beyond the fact that 8 out of 10 Romanians view the Government with skepticism, it is interesting to analyze how the small amount of trust that the institution has is distributed among various socio-demographic categories.

Thus, the champions of trust in the Government are young people under 30 years old, among whom the highest level of trust is recorded (41%). Also, significantly higher percentages than the average of 18.5% can be observed among people with higher education (31%) and among residents of Bucharest (36%), where trust in the Executive reaches a level almost double compared to those in large urban areas, small towns, and rural areas. In contrast, the lowest level of trust is found among individuals with primary education (9%), without a doubt, as they are the most exposed to economic difficulties, unemployment, and inflation, in a context where the Executive predominantly promotes austerity policies and, therefore, is easily associated with the image of "the big bad wolf."

Significant differences in relation to the percentages of trust in the Executive also appear among the electorates of the main parties. The highest levels of trust are found among USR voters (50%) and PNL (39%), while PSD supporters are closer in their much lower level of trust (19%) to those of AUR, rather than to the electorates of the other parties in the governing coalition, likely as a result of the positioning of their favored formation, which has made a habit of criticizing its own cabinet. As for AUR supporters, they are predictably the most distrustful of the Executive, with a percentage of only 12% expressing much and very much trust.

Overall, the data suggest the existence of a general state of heightened skepticism towards the institutional activity of the Government. However, looking deeper, it seems that the amplitude of unfavorable perceptions strongly reflects the political disputes along the main conflict axis of Power – Opposition, but is also related to the exposure of various socio-demographic groups to economic and social issues, as well as to the perception of a lack of adequate support from the authorities, whose main representative remains in the collective mindset the Government.

Methodology: The data for the 7th edition of the BAROMETER Informat.ro – INSCOP Research were collected between January 12-15, 2026. Research method: interview via questionnaire. The data were collected using the CATI method (telephone interviews), with a simple stratified sample volume of 1100 people, representative of significant socio-demographic categories (sex, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania, aged 18 and over. The maximum allowable error of the data is ± 3%, at a confidence level of 95%.