This compares to 81 per cent of people trusting the technology sector.

The twelfth Edelman Trust Barometer, which surveys 5,000 people around the world, found trust in companies overall was falling year on year, especially in the UK.

While globally, 47 per cent of people said they would trust businesses to do the right thing, this figure fell to 38 per cent in the UK.

UK trust in banks was 16 per cent, a significant drop from 46 per cent of people in 2008. In the United States the figure was even worse, falling from 71 per cent to 25 per cent.

However, in markets such as China and India, trust in banks was rising; in China trust grew from 78 per cent in 2008 to 90 per cent.

The report read: "The dramatic three-year drop in trust in banks in the West keeps this industry stuck at the bottom in global industry rankings. By contrast, in China, where banks are credited with financing increased prosperity, trust surged to 90 per cent."

Regarding chief executives, less than a third of people in the UK trusted chief executives, down from 39 per cent in 2011.

In order to build trust, respondents said companies needed to listen to customer needs, offer quality goods and services and put customers before profits.

Shane Mullins, managing director of Fiscal Engineers who is running a trust in the financial services campaign, said: "We have to somehow draw a line under the past, accepting that we can't change the past but recognise we can shape a different future.

"To achieve this objective, the industry will need to think, act and behave differently. We need to collectively recognise that trust is a valuable asset that people will pay for."

• Want to receive a free weekly summary of the best news stories from our website? Just go to home page and submit your name and email address. If you are already logged in you will need to log out to see the e-newsletter sign up. You can then log in again.