The United Nations headquarters in New York City. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

People across 24 countries continue to view the U.N. favorably

August 31, 2023

By Moira Fagan, a research associate focusing on global attitudes research at the Pew Research Center.

From Pew Research Center

The United Nations General Assembly will open its 78th session on Sept. 5 against a favorable backdrop. A median of 63% across 24 countries surveyed see the U.N. in a positive light, according to a spring Pew Research Center survey. Another 28% see it negatively. In most countries surveyed, a majority of the public has a positive opinion of the U.N.

Views of the U.N. are especially favorable in Kenya, Poland, South Korea and Sweden, where about eight-in-ten express positive views.

In a few countries, however, negative opinions of the U.N. are more common than positive ones. In Israel, for example, 62% have a negative view of the organization, the highest share across all countries surveyed. The Israeli public has historically expressed unfavorable views toward the U.N.: At least 58% have viewed the organization negatively since this question was first asked in 2007.

Similarly, 50% of people in Japan have an unfavorable view of the U.N. Japanese views of the U.N. have stayed generally negative since the summer of 2020, when 55% had an unfavorable view of the organization.

In a handful of countries – Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa – about a fifth or more of the public did not provide an opinion.

Favorable opinions of the UN over time

The U.N.’s favorability has generally remained stable across most countries surveyed in recent years, with a few exceptions.

In Hungary, where government leaders have expressed frustration with international criticism of domestic affairs, positive opinion has dropped 11 percentage points in the last year, to 50%. And in the U.S., favorable views have ticked down slightly to 58%. Conservative Americans, as well as adults ages 50 and older, are less likely to see the U.N. favorably than they were in 2022.

While data is available for most countries from 2022, the Center was unable to survey several middle-income countries from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, looking at changes from 2019 to 2023, opinions of the U.N. have improved significantly in some of these countries. In Nigeria, India and Kenya, for example, the shares who have favorable views of the multilateral organization have increased by double-digit points since 2019.

The 17-point increase in India may be due, in part, to the rise in the share who express any opinion. Just 12% did not respond to the question in 2023, compared with 44% in 2019.

What do people like about the U.N.?

In past surveys, publics have tended to credit the U.N. for promoting human rights, peace and economic development, while fewer have said it cares about the needs of everyday people or deals effectively with international problems.

In a 2020 Center survey, a median of 76% across 14 countries believed the U.N. promoted human rights, while a median of 51% said it dealt effectively with international problems.

Differing views of the U.N. within countries

In some countries, people who place themselves on the ideological left are more favorable toward the U.N. than those on the right. This pattern was also observed in 2022.

The divide is particularly stark in Israel, where those on the left are almost 50 points more likely to hold a positive opinion of the U.N. than those on the right. And Israelis on the left have grown even more favorable toward the organization over the past year: In 2022, 48% of those on the left had a positive opinion of the U.N., compared with 64% who have the same view this year.

In the U.S., liberals are also much more likely than conservatives to see the U.N. positively (79% vs. 34%).

Only in Greece is the pattern reversed: 57% of people on the ideological right view the U.N. favorably, compared with 41% on the left.

In a handful of countries, people with more education are more likely than those with less education to see the U..N favorably. In Germany, for example, 78% of those with at least a postsecondary education approve of the U.N., compared with 64% of those with a secondary education or less.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Sept. 17, 2021. Here are the questions used for the analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.