Published Tuesday by Cambridge University's Bennett Institute for Public Policy, the study had more than half a million participants across 109 countries. The research team has been monitoring participants' political attitudes since 2020.

According to the report, there are clear signs that the so-called "populist wave" -- which saw radical and anti-establishment leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, rise to power -- could be diminishing.

The mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis by populist leaders, a desire for stability and a decline in polarizing attitudes were swaying public opinion away from populist sentiment, researchers said. Populist leaders were also considered to be less trustworthy as sources of Covid-related information than their centrist counterparts, the poll found.

The pandemic prompted a shift toward technocratic politics, the paper said, which bolstered trust in governments and experts such as scientists.