Lowy Institute Poll 2023 Report

Global powers and world leaders

Trust in global powers

Each year, the Lowy Institute Poll asks about levels of trust in global powers. This year, the vast majority of Australians continue to trust Japan (85%), the United Kingdom (84%) and France (79%) ‘somewhat’ or ‘a great deal’ to act responsibly in the world.

By the same measure, Russia (8%) and China (15%) are once again the least trusted global powers of those surveyed. For China, this is a marginal increase on last year (12%) but remains strikingly low compared to five years ago, when half of Australians (52%) expressed trust in China. Similarly, trust in Russia plummeted following its invasion of Ukraine last year, and currently sits 20 points below 2018 levels.

Trust in the United States (61%) has dropped by four points, compared to 2022, but is still ten points higher than in 2020 (the last year of the Trump administration).

Levels of trust in India (58%) and Indonesia (51%) remain stable on last year, having fluctuated in previous years.

Confidence in world leaders

Australians have the highest levels of confidence in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (included in the Lowy Institute Poll for the first time), who captured global attention for his leadership of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion. Seven in ten Australians (72%) say they have either ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of confidence in Zelenskyy, the same as in recently sworn-in New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. More Australians express ‘a lot of confidence’ in Zelenskyy (31%) than they do in any of the ten other leaders listed.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are the next most highly ranked leaders, with 64% of Australians saying they have ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of confidence in each.

Confidence in US President Joe Biden remains steady at 59%, although this is ten points lower than 2021, the year he was inaugurated. Confidence in UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (63%) is marginally higher than in his predecessor Boris Johnson (59% in 2022).

Echoing the decline in Australians’ trust in China in recent years, confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping remains low at 11%. The only leaders in whom Australians have less confidence are Russian President Vladimir Putin (7%) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (3%).

Feelings thermometer

The ‘feelings thermometer’ rates Australians’ warmth towards other countries and territories, as well as the European Union and the United Nations, on a scale of 0° (coldest feelings) to 100° (warmest feelings), with each score reflecting the mean of responses.

Australians continue to feel warmest towards New Zealand, at 85°, followed by Japan and the United Kingdom at 75°. By contrast, Australians continue to feel cool towards China this year (33°), despite recent moves towards a stabilisation of the Australia–China relationship. This low reading has been steady since 2021 and is almost half the level of warmth felt towards China five years ago, in 2018 (58°). The only countries that Australians feel cooler towards are Russia (20°) and North Korea (16°).

Feelings towards the United States (63°) have remained largely steady for the last five years, after declining from an all-time high of 73° in 2015.

Feelings towards Indonesia (57°) have warmed incrementally over time, edging up seven degrees since the thermometer began in 2006. Meanwhile, feelings towards India (58°) have fluctuated modestly over time, and currently stand four degrees below a high of 62° in 2006.

For the first time since 2017, Australians were asked how they felt about Solomon Islands. Despite public anxiety about the country signing a security pact with China in March 2022, feelings of warmth towards Solomon Islands (61°) have changed little from 2017, when it scored 64°.

Australia’s best friend in Asia

Australians are once again most likely to name Japan (44%) as ‘Australia’s best friend in Asia’ from a list of six countries. There is an almost 30-point margin between Japan and the countries ranked next on this measure, India (16%) and Singapore (15%). The number of Australians who selected India has more than doubled since 2022.

By contrast, China ranked second-lowest on the list, with only 7% seeing it as Australia’s best friend in Asia, again highlighting how attitudes towards China have changed. Less than a decade ago, Japan and China shared the title of Australia’s best friend in Asia, and in 2016 China topped the list.

South Korea remains a consistent underperformer on this metric, with only 4% identifying it as Australia’s best friend in Asia — despite a strong bilateral relationship, developing strategic ties and growing cultural links.