Bankers among least trusted professions - survey

Bankers are among the least trusted professions globally, a new IPSOS survey has revealed. Together with politicians, government ministers and advertising executives, bankers come at the tail end of the most trusted professions.

"Six in 10 of the global public rate scientists as trustworthy and just one in 10 consider them untrustworthy," said IPSOS in a recent report based on attitude. The latest edition of the Global Trustworthiness Index also shows that the next most trustworthy professionals are doctors, followed by teachers.

In all the 20 countries polled, politicians are seen as the most untrustworthy professionals globally at 67 per cent, followed by Government ministers at 57 per cent.

Along demographic lines, Indians see the armed forces as the most trustworthy profession, while in China it is the police.

"Members of the armed forces are the fourth most trusted profession overall, seen as trustworthy by 43 per cent," said the report.

In contrast, politicians generally, government ministers and advertising executives come at the bottom at 9, 12, 13 and 20 per cent respectively.

Ordinary men and women appear in the top 10 along with Judges and lawyers. TV anchors, pollsters, civil servants, business leaders, journalists and clergy are doing badly as demonstrated by lower to lowest scores in the study.

Professionals are most trusted in China followed by India and Canada. "Argentina, South Korea and Hungary are the bottom three countries on the index - indicating high levels in of distrust," said the report.