Dutch trust in politicians, parliament drops to new low

Dutch people’s confidence in national politics fell to its lowest level since 2012 last year, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported based on its Social Cohesion and Well-being survey. In 2025, one-fifth of people aged 15 and over had confidence in politicians, while a quarter had confidence in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament.

Around 7,600 people completed the survey, which CBS has been conducting since 2012.

Up un til 2020, Dutch confidence in politicians rose to nearly 40 percent. After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in that year, confidence declined every year, with the exception of 2024. Last year, 21.2 percent of Dutch people trusted politicians in The Hague.

The same trend can be seen for the Tweede Kamer. In 2020, more than 50 percent of the Dutch held a positive view of parliament. Last year, it was down to 24.6 percent.

Despite this plummet, Dutch people’s confidence in politicians and parliament remains relatively high compared to other European countries, CBS said.

The youngest surveyed group, aged 15 to 25, has the most trust in political institutions. In contrast, Dutch people aged 65 to 75 have the least trust. CBS sociologist Tanja Traag thinks this is due to these groups’ political experience. “Young people generally have little political experience, so they struggle to form an opinion. In contrast, the older group has experienced more political setbacks, which negatively influence their assessment,” she said.

In contrast to the lack of trust in national politics, the Dutch are predominantly positive toward civil servants and the European Union. About half of the population has trust in them.

Trust in municipal councils has increased every year since the first measurement in 2022, reaching 55 percent in 2025. According to Traag, the positive assessment of local administrators may stem from the fact that people know them, and they generally address locally relevant issues.

Trust is the lowest in the northeast of the country. On average, about a third of inhabitants in that part of the country had confidence in political institutions between 2016 and 2025. In the Randstad regions, this was 45 percent.