UAE ranks first globally on trust index as majority of world moves towards insularity

As much of the world retreats into insularity and skepticism, the UAE is moving in the opposite direction — a contrast that the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer captures with unusual clarity.

The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer finds that seven in 10 people globally are now hesitant or unwilling to trust someone who differs from them in values, background or worldview — a sharp signal that distrust, not dialogue, has become the default instinct. Against that backdrop, the UAE ranked joint first globally for trust, alongside China, with an index score of 80, highlighting a stark divergence between local sentiment and global unease.

“Standalone, it’s a great result,” said Nidaa Lone, head of Edelman Abu Dhabi. “But when you compare it to the global average, that’s when you really see how different the UAE picture is.”

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Optimism gap widens

One of the clearest points of contrast is optimism about the future. Globally, just 32 per cent of respondents believe the next generation will be better off on their own. In the UAE, that figure is nearly double at 63 per cent.

“This confidence isn’t accidental,” Lone said. “Trust here has been built by consistently delivering — through credibility, stability and a shared national vision that institutions across government, media and business clearly communicate and serve.”

Globally, optimism has been sliding fast. Edelman recorded some of the steepest year-on-year declines in countries such as India and China, while developed markets show even deeper pessimism about upward mobility and generational progress.

From polarisation to insularity

Tracking trust for more than two decades, Edelman says public sentiment has evolved from polarisation to grievance — and now into insularity.

“Insularity means people are more hesitant to trust someone who feels different from them,” Lone explained. “Different beliefs, different backgrounds, different worldviews.”

While this mindset now dominates globally, the UAE stands out as the second least insular country measured in the study. Edelman attributes this to the country’s highly diverse population and comparatively open social environment.

“That diversity and tolerance give the UAE a very positive picture when it comes to insularity,” Lone said.

Widening class divide, nationalism on rise

Elsewhere, trust is increasingly shaped by income and proximity. Since 2012, the gap in trust between high- and low-income groups has more than doubled worldwide. The United States now shows the largest mass-class trust divide, at 29 points.

At the same time, people are turning inward geographically. Globally, only 30 per cent of respondents say they are open to trusting across divides, while 70 per cent are either hesitant or unwilling to do so — a defining statistic of what Edelman describes as the “age of insularity".

Trust is also increasingly shaped by borders. Trust consistently favours domestic over foreign companies, with strong nationalist preferences recorded in markets such as Canada, Germany, Japan and the UK.

This inward turn is also reshaping workplaces. Edelman found that 42 per cent of employees would rather change departments than report to a manager with very different values, while a third would reduce effort on projects led by someone whose beliefs oppose their own.

Employers emerge as trust anchors

As confidence in governments, major media and foreign business leaders declines, trust is becoming local and personal. Scientists, teachers, neighbours and colleagues now command far higher trust levels than CEOs, journalists or political leaders.

Notably, “my employer” is the only institution that a majority of people believe is doing well at bridging divides and facilitating trust-building. Among employees, 58 per cent say their workplace effectively brokers trust between groups who distrust one another.

“This makes employers uniquely positioned to scale trust brokering,” Edelman notes, through shared identity, diverse teams and training in constructive dialogue.

Yet expectations remain far higher than performance for most institutions. Governments show the largest gap between what people believe they should do to build trust and how well they are perceived to be doing it, followed by media, NGOs and business.

Navigating fear without losing trust

The survey also reflects widespread anxieties around misinformation, job security, geopolitics and technological disruption. But in the UAE, these concerns have not translated into collapsing confidence.

“It’s not that people here don’t worry about misinformation or jobs,” Lone said. “They do. But there is still a belief that we have a way to navigate those challenges.”

That belief, she added, is the defining difference.

As much of the world hardens into closed ecosystems of trust, the UAE’s experience suggests that shared vision, institutional delivery and social cohesion can still sustain confidence — even in an era defined by uncertainty and division.