Reputation&Trust Defence 2025 Study: NATO’s reputation stronger in Norway than in Finland and Sweden

The Reputation&Trust Defence 2025 study assessed NATO’s reputation in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Public ratings were collected on a scale from 1 to 5 and used to calculate average scores. These averages were interpreted as follows: excellent ≥ 4.00, good = 3.50–3.99, moderate = 3.00–3.49, poor < 3.00, and very poor <2.5.

NATO’s overall reputation was rated as good in Norway (average score: 3.59), and moderate in both Finland (3.21) and Sweden (3.14). Among the reputation dimensions evaluated, NATO received its highest score in Leadership in Norway (3.92), Financial Performance in Finland (3.35), and Workplace in Sweden (3.48). The weakest dimensions were Financial Performance in Norway (3.25, moderate) and Sweden (2.85, poor), and Governance in Finland (2.96, poor).

“The study likely reflects the historical differences between the three Nordic countries. Norway has been a NATO member since the alliance’s founding in 1949, and Norwegians have grown accustomed to seeing it as an integral part of their defence and security infrastructure. Finland and Sweden, by contrast, only recently joined NATO after a long tradition of self-reliance and nonalignment—factors that help explain the higher levels of scepticism toward the organization,” says Riku Ruokolahti, Development Director at Reputation and Trust Analytics.

Significant differences in willingness to support NATO in a crisis

In addition to measuring NATO’s reputation among Finns, Swedes, and Norwegians, the Reputation&Trust Defence 2025 study also assessed public trust in the organization and willingness to support it in a crisis. In Norway, Trust was rated at 3.84 (good) and Support in Crisis at 4.18 (excellent). In contrast, scores in Finland (Trust: 3.18, Support in Crisis: 3.08) and Sweden (Trust: 3.11, Support in Crisis: 3.07) were significantly lower, falling within the moderate range.

“It is understandable that the differences between the long-standing member and the two new members are considerable in the Trust and Support in Crisis dimensions. These indicators reflect not only how the public perceives NATO, but also what people are willing to do in support of the organization,” explains Riku Ruokolahti, Development Director at Reputation and Trust Analytics.

“While Trust and Support in Crisis are noticeably lower in Finland and Sweden than in Norway, they are still at a moderate level – indicating that a small majority of Finns and Swedes do trust NATO and are willing to support it. It will be interesting to see how these attitudes evolve over time.”

How we conducted the study

The aim of the Reputation&Trust Defence 2025 study was to examine the reputation and trust of NATO. In addition, the study examined the general reputation of the industry. The data collection for the study was carried out through an electronic questionnaire from February 24 to March 24, 2025, in Sweden, from February 26 to March 24, 2025, in Norway, and from February 24 to March 17, 2025, in Finland (excluding Åland).

Organizations were evaluated using Reputation and Trust Analytics’ Reputation&Trust research model, where the organization's reputation score is formed as an average of eight different dimensions. These areas are corporate governance, financial performance, leadership, innovation, dialogue, products & services, workplace, and responsibility. The study used a five-point evaluation scale (1-5).

The study included 3,162 Swedes, 2,427 Norwegians, and 3,037 Finns. The target group was citizens aged 15-65 years. The samples were weighted to represent the population of each country according to gender, age, and region.

For more information:

Riku Ruokolahti
Development Director, Reputation and Trust Analytics
riku.ruokolahti@t-media.fi
+358 400 512 200