Two in three people across Asia-Pacific are “unwilling or hesitant to trust someone with different values, approaches to societal problems, backgrounds or information sources,” according to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2026.
The report describes it as an “insular trust mindset” and says it is reshaping the operating environment for institutions and businesses across the region.
“The APAC findings show that trust is becoming more selective. When optimism weakens and concerns about falsehoods rise, people place greater weight on what feels known and close to home,” said Rakesh Thukral, Edelman’s CEO for Asia Pacific.
“This is also reflected in stronger trust in domestic companies across APAC markets, and in a more cautious outlook for the next generation in several markets. In that environment, organisations will need to focus more on bridging trust across divides by building safe spaces for dialogue, understanding and shared progress.”
When optimism weakens and concerns about falsehoods rise, people place greater weight on what feels known and close to home.
The report identifies four forces that it says are driving insularity in APAC. The first is a stronger preference for the familiar: trust in companies headquartered in respondents’ own country is higher than trust in foreign-headquartered companies in all seven APAC markets included in the analysis.
The second is a more inward-facing information environment, reflected in what the report describes as a six-point year-on-year decline globally in people getting information from sources with a different political leaning at least weekly.
The third is what the report calls a widening mass-class divide — it finds the regional trust gap between high- and low-income respondents now stands at 16 points, which it says is more than double the seven-point gap recorded in 2012.
The fourth is weakening optimism about the future: when asked whether the next generation will be better off than today, the report records double-digit year-on-year declines in agreement in Singapore, Thailand, India, and China.
The report further points to a more inward business environment, with support for reducing the number of foreign companies operating in respondents’ own countries even if that means higher prices.
On the consequences for business, the report finds that among those with what it characterizes as an insular mindset, trust in institutions led by people perceived as different from them would be 28 to 31 points lower than among those with an open mindset.
Employers and Trust Builders
It also finds that employees are less willing to work under or support leaders with different values than their own, and points to support for reducing the number of foreign companies operating in respondents’ home countries, even if that means higher prices.
On the role of employers, the report positions them as best placed to bridge trust divides in the region, citing what it describes as the smallest expectation-performance gap among institutions when it comes to facilitating trust building between groups that distrust each other.
It further finds that when low-income respondents see institutions bridging trust well, their average trust score rises by 18 points — bringing it on par with that of high-income respondents. Conflict-resolution training and opportunities to work and interact with people who hold different values are identified in the report as effective approaches for employers to scale trust bridging, based on employee input.
Other findings from the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer APAC Report:
A Widening Mass-Class Divide:
In APAC, the trust gap between high- and low-income respondents widened from 7 points in 2012 to 16 points in 2026. The APAC Trust Index is 70 among high-income respondents and 54 among low-income respondents.
Key Shapers of Trust:
Optimism is uneven across APAC markets. Just 31% in Singapore and 36% in Thailand say the next generation will be better off than today, with double-digit year-on-year declines in Singapore, Thailand, India, and China. Concern about foreign actors spreading falsehoods has also risen by double digits in 6 of 9 APAC markets since 2021.
Trust Shifts from “We” to “Me”:
The APAC materials also include broader Trust Barometer findings showing globally, among those who say major societal events in the past five years have impacted their trust, institutional leaders have experienced net trust losses, led by national government leaders (–16pt net change), major news organizations (–11), and foreign business leaders (–6), while the net trust change was an increase for neighbors, family and friends (+11), coworkers (+11, among employees), and one’s CEO (+9, among employees).
Foreign Companies Face a Trust Disadvantage:
Across APAC markets, trust in companies headquartered in respondents’ own country is higher than trust in foreign-headquartered companies. The domestic trust advantage is 29 points in Japan, 28 points in Singapore and South Korea, 18 points in Malaysia, 17 points in China, 15 points in India, and 14 points in Thailand.
Institutions Fall Short on Trust Bridging:
Expectation-performance gaps remain large in APAC when it comes to bridging divides and facilitating trust building between groups who distrust each other: government has a 37-point gap between expectation and performance, media a 37-point gap, NGOs a 31-point gap, and business a 29-point gap. Employers perform best, with 54% of employees saying their employer is doing well at bridging divides and facilitating trust building.
You can read the full report here.
