Key resources

OECD Survey on Drivers of Public Trust in Institutions 2026 Results

Governments operate in a context of rising public expectations and complex policy challenges, while also facing a critical window of opportunity to adapt and reform institutions and policies to better respond to these needs. In democracies, a healthy level of trust in public institutions will be critical to the implementation of these reforms. The third OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions provides comparable actionable evidence on levels and key drivers of trust across 33 OECD countries and 5 OECD accession candidate countries in 2025.

AI offers tremendous potential in its use by governments. It helps governments automate and tailor public services, improve decision-making, detect fraud, and enrich civil servants’ work and learning. However, benefits also hinge on managing risks: skewed data in AI systems can cause harmful decisions; lack of transparency erodes accountability; and overreliance can widen digital divides and propagate errors, reducing citizen trust. These trade-offs need to account for governments’ specific challenges where adoption trails some firms in the private sector, slowed by skill gaps, legacy IT systems, limited data, tight budgets, and stricter needs for privacy, transparency, and representation.

Facing record public debt and mounting spending pressures, OECD countries must look beyond traditional tools to secure fiscal sustainability: it can no longer be achieved without public buy-in. This report highlights that empowering public understanding is now an essential component of modern budgeting. It outlines a strategy based on four pillars: 1) demystifying the budget for key decision makers; 2) communicating public finances clearly; 3) fostering genuine citizen engagement to build legitimacy; and 4) transforming independent fiscal institutions into proactive fiscal advocates. Ultimately, the report contends that generating political will for necessary reforms requires moving budget discussions out of the purely technical realm and cultivating a shared public understanding.

Public finances in OECD countries are facing significant challenges such as slow economic growth, ageing populations, high debt from recent crises, and new spending pressures, including in defence. This report provides an overview of countries’ savings initiatives implemented in 2025-2026. While savings measures are widespread, they appear modest relative to the challenges public finances are facing. Going forward, enhancing public understanding of the fiscal challenges ahead will be essential.

People expect their government to act quickly, adapt to change and respond effectively, putting pressure on public institutions to keep up. Digital technologies and data are integral to meeting these demands: they have become core infrastructure for governments to perform and address today's policy and service delivery challenges. This report presents results from the OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) and the Open, Useful and Re-usable Data Index (OURdata), illustrating how governments across 36 OECD countries and 8 accession countries have been improving coherent, effective and human-centred digital transformation in government in recent years.

In a fast-changing and complex environment, governments are striving to maintain streamlined regulatory design and implementation that will enable growth and societal protections. The OECD Simplifying for Success (S4S) survey provides emerging evidence on where rules and procedures are considered most burdensome and on ongoing simplification efforts. This report highlights priority areas for regulatory simplification and reform, helping governments address both symptoms and root causes of excessive regulation, and offering policy considerations for more efficient and effective rulemaking.

Workforce Insights from Central Governments

This synthesis report presents key findings and actionable insights from the 2024 Standard EU/OECD Survey of Central Government Public Servants, the first cross-country survey of its kind across ten countries. At a time when governments must respond to increasingly complex and fast-moving challenges, the evidence presented here is more vital than ever to help central administrations strengthen leadership and human resource practices to build high performing public service workforces. Drawing on robust, comparative data, collected from over 56 000 public service employees, it offers a unique, evidence-based look into the experiences and perceptions of public service employees.

Exploring New Frontiers in Citizen Participation in the Policy Cycle

Many people feel that their voices are not being heard, despite a myriad of opportunities for citizens to contribute to public debate and policy. Policymakers are increasingly faced with complex policy issues that require careful trade-offs between the long and short term and across different groups in society. Meaningful citizen participation in policymaking is now critical. This report identifies systemic challenges for citizen participation facing citizens, elected representatives, civil servants and civil society, including: the need for a shared understanding of the central role of citizen participation in the policy cycle, co-ordination among public institutions within and across levels of governance, alignment between the ‘front office’ and the ‘back office’ of public institutions, and ensuring accountability for citizen participation throughout the policy cycle.

People use public administrative services (PAS) frequently, for example when registering a birth, or getting an ID, license or permit. During important life events, like having a baby or moving home, people often use many different PAS. The quality of these services affects people’s lives and their trust in institutions. Serving Citizens 2026 presents an overview of how PAS are organised and delivered in OECD and partner countries.

This report examines the public communication structures, mandates and practices of centres of governments and ministries of health from 46 countries, based on the 2020 Understanding Public Communication surveys. It analyses how this important government function contributes to better policies and services, greater citizen trust, and, ultimately, stronger democracies in an increasingly complex information environment.

Key resources

OECD Survey on Drivers of Public Trust in Institutions 2026 Results

Governing with Artificial Intelligence

The People and the Budget

Restoring Public Finances

Digital Government Outlook 2026

Smart Regulations, Strong Business

Workforce Insights from Central Governments

Exploring New Frontiers in Citizen Participation in the Policy Cycle

Serving Citizens 2026

OECD Report on Public Communication

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