Countries in Eurasia that are pursuing far-reaching economic reforms are experiencing the largest decreases in public trust in government, while authoritarian-minded governments in the region are showing an increase in public faith in officials, according to newly published United Nations findings.

The UN’s World Social Report 2025 highlights a broad decline globally in “institutional trust” since the start of the 21st century. Economic and social shocks, including the 2008 financial crisis, the Covid-19 crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war, have eroded public confidence in governmental leadership.

“Today, over half of the global population has little or no trust in their government: 57 percent of people claim their level of confidence in government is low,” the UN report states, citing survey data collected between 1995 and 2022.

The UN report does not touch on the impact of social media. Other researchers have linked the general decline in confidence in policymakers with the rise of social media, which magnifies the impact of disinformation and misinformation in ways that undermine officials’ ability to address social and economic challenges. Experts in Kazakhstan, for example, identified social media-borne misinformation as a major factor in exacerbating an outbreak of measles in the country in late 2023.

“Social media significantly contributes to the spread of misinformation and has a global reach,” two Australian researchers, Emily Denniss and Rebecca Lindberg, wrote in a paper published in the April 2025 edition of the journal Health Promotion International. 

“Health misinformation has a range of adverse outcomes, including influencing individuals’ decisions (e.g. choosing not to vaccinate), and the erosion of trust in authoritative institutions,” the authors add. “There are many interrelated causes of the misinformation problem, including the ability of non-experts to rapidly post information, the influence of bots and social media algorithms.”

The UN report lists the “rise of political extremism and populism” around the world, a phenomenon abetted by social media, as another contributor to the decline in institutional trust.

The report’s data suggests a correlation in Eurasia between jarring economic reforms pursued by governments and rising public skepticism of policymakers. Two countries that have been the most aggressive in recent years in trying to reorient their economies – Armenia and Uzbekistan – show the largest rate increases in institutional distrust. 

The Armenian government is attempting to overhaul the country’s social and economic system via the adoption of a new constitution while at the same time trying to establish a lasting peace with long-time enemy Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan retains a consolidated authoritarian political system, according to rights watchdogs, but President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s administration is trying to implement far-reaching economic reforms, hoping to qualify the country for membership in the World Trade Organization.

The UN report did not contain data on institutional trust in Georgia, a country that has recoiled from economic liberalization over the past two years and has moved rapidly in an authoritarian direction.

Authoritarian-minded states in Eurasia, including Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, tend to have higher levels of public confidence in their respective governments, the UN data shows. The report did not delve into the reasons why authoritarian leaderships supposedly inspire higher levels of public confidence. Two contributing factors, according to regional watchdogs, are tight control over the flow of information in authoritarian environments, and fear of potential repercussions for speaking openly.

Researchers have also found that an erosion of faith in democratic institutions tends to fuel an increase in the belief of authoritarian solutions. “Trust in political institutions represents a central component of democratic systems,” stated a paper published by four scholars in the journal Psychology of Democracy in 2022. “When citizens lack confidence in state bodies, such as the government and parliament, the legitimacy of democracy is dangerously challenged.”