Public trust in Dutch politicians and parliament has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 2012, according to new data from Statistics Netherlands.
As of 2025, just over a fifth (21%) of people aged 15 and over said they had a ‘high’ or ‘fairly high’ level of trust in politicians, while confidence in the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) also declined, with trust falling to 25%.
‘Falling almost every year’
The findings, from Statistics Netherlands’ survey on social cohesion and well-being, found that trust in political institutions is well down from its pandemic peak, with ‘trust in politicians and parliament falling almost every year,’ it noted.
At the same time, however, ‘confidence in civil servants and local government has been on the rise since 2022, meanwhile, and trust in the EU has been rising since 2023.’
Around 47% of respondents said they trusted civil servants, 51% expressed confidence in the European Union and 54% said they trusted local government.
Age cohorts
The survey also highlighted major differences between age groups. Young people aged between 15 and 24 recorded the highest levels of trust across all political institutions, with 33% expressing confidence in politicians and 34% trusting parliament. By contrast, people aged 65 to 74 reported the lowest levels of political trust, with only 15% saying they trusted politicians.
On a regional basis, trust in politics was lowest in the northeast of the Netherlands, the data showed. Read more here.
