SAS and Universities Are the Most Trusted Institutions in Slovakia
Compared to the last survey in 2023, Slovak universities took the top spot in the trust ranking, with 71.5% of respondents either fully or rather trusting them. On the other hand, the National Council of the Slovak Republic (27.4% of respondents either fully or rather trusting them), the judiciary and legal system (33.4% of respondents either fully or rather trusting them), and large companies and corporations (36.8% of respondents either fully or rather trusting them) face the lowest levels of trust.
The shift at the top of the trust ranking—where SAS was surpassed by Slovak universities—was primarily due to an increase in respondents who did not provide an answer regarding their trust in SAS. While this share decreased from 8.9% in 2016 to 5.7% in 2023, it rose to 12.1% in the current survey.
Nevertheless, as in 2023, SAS in 2025 still has the highest share of respondents who fully trust it among all fourteen institutions. This share increased from 17.8% in 2023 to 21.8% in the current survey.
“In the regular trust measurement of 2025, the SAS is the second most trusted among the evaluated institutions. The slight decline in overall trust and the somewhat higher trust in universities may be linked to the SAS's visible role as a defender of scientific consensus, particularly during discussions on vaccines and the pandemic. This explanation is supported by a parallel rise in both non-respondents and those who expressed full trust in SAS,” stated Miloslav Bahna from the Institute for Sociology of the SAS, who conducted a detailed analysis of the survey results.