Pressure groups and charities have overtaken governments, media and big businesses to become the world's most trusted institutions, according to an international poll to be presented this week to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

An annual survey of attitudes in eight countries suggests public trust has been eroded by scandals such as corporate malfeasance and discredited journalism. The survey, conducted in December for Edelman, a US public relations firm, found that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace now scored the highest for trustworthiness in the US and Europe.