PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are becoming less trusting of the Government, businesses and media as they grow weary of scandals and the way they have been handled, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2016.

Compared to the year before, trust in the Government fell seven points to 39% among the general population and 11 points to 34% among the informed public.

Trust in media and businesses among the general public fell one point and two points respectively, to 45% and 58%.

Among the informed public, however, trust in media increased 13 points to 59%, while there was no change in trust in businesses at 67%.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were standouts in the survey, posting a four-point rise among the informed public and two-point rise among the general public.

This is the fifth survey on Malaysia conducted by the communications marketing firm. The results of the survey were released on Tuesday.

On average, Malaysian trust in the institutions was 58% among the informed public and 51% among the general population. Globally, this reading stood at 60% and 50% respectively.

Malaysians were also less trusting of content on social media, with a seven-point drop to 42% compared to 2015.

Their trust in social media was at a high of 58% in 2013, before falling the subsequent years.

The latest edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer surveyed more than 33,000 people in 28 countries between Oct 13 and Nov 16 last year.

The sample size in Malaysia for the survey was 1,150 respondents for the general population and 200 respondents for the informed public.

The informed public is aged 25-64, has tertiary education, is in the top 25% in household income per age group in each country, follows business and news media several times a week, and follows public policy issues in the news several times a week.