Doctors and police – who the Germans really trust

Is this also due to the constant presence in TV series? Doctors and the police are held in the highest regard in Germany: 81 percent of Germans have a great deal of trust in them – the same as a year ago. This is a result of the institutional ranking that Forsa has been conducting for almost two decades star, RTL and ntv determined. The Federal Constitutional Court follows in third place. It achieves a trust score of 78 percent. That is four percentage points more than 2023 and therefore the largest increase in reputation. In fourth place are the universities with 75 percent (+ 2 percentage points) and the courts with 70 percent (- 1 percentage point).

Germans continue to have the least trust in social media and advertising agencies: only three percent trust them each. The reputation of Islam (6 percent) and the Catholic Church (11 percent) is also very low. The institutions with the five worst values ​​- a total of 36 were surveyed - also include the political parties: only 15 percent of Germans trust them. This is a small increase of two percentage points compared to the previous year, but in the long-term comparison the loss of trust is obvious: the value has fallen by ten percentage points since 2020.

When looking at the detailed results, it is striking that trust in state institutions is significantly lower in East Germany: at 73 percent, the trust value for the police is ten percentage points lower than in West Germany. In the new federal states, the Federal Constitutional Court reached 61 percent, 19 percentage points less. This correlates with the results for voters of the AfD, which is more popular in East Germany. AfD supporters have significantly less trust in almost all institutions. The difference is particularly large in the Federal Constitutional Court, which only 26 percent of AfD voters trust. The reputation of social media, which 11 percent of AfD supporters trust, is higher.

For the first time, Forsa also determined the attitudes of voters in the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance (BSW). Their values ​​are also significantly lower than in the rest of the population, but the mistrust is less pronounced than among AfD supporters. For example, 59 percent of BSW voters trust the Federal Constitutional Court.

The data was provided by the market and opinion research institute Forsa collected by telephone for the stern and RTL Deutschland between December 6th and 13th, 2024. Database: 4004 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 1.5 percentage points. The survey is therefore representative.