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December 25, 2025 Graphics/Design:

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Ranked: Approval Ratings of World Leaders Heading Into 2026

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Key Takeaways

Narendra Modi remains the world’s most popular major leader heading into 2026, despite softer approval than earlier in 2025.

Most approval gains over 2025 stemmed from leadership changes rather than improving sentiment toward incumbents.

Public approval of political leaders reflects a mix of economic conditions, policy decisions, and broader voter sentiment. As 2025 comes to a close, approval ratings offer a snapshot of how leaders around the world are perceived heading into 2026.

This visualization ranks major global leaders by approval rating, based on surveys conducted between December 8 and 14, 2025, by Morning Consult,

High Approval at the Top, but Fewer Standouts

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi ranks first overall, with 71% approval heading into 2026. Although still well ahead of peers, his approval declined modestly from 75% in January 2025.

A similar pattern appears elsewhere: even leaders near the top of the rankings faced gradual erosion in support over the year, reflecting persistent inflation, cost-of-living pressures, and political fatigue among voters.

RankLeaderCountryApproveDon’t know / No opinionDisapprove

1	Narendra Modi	🇮🇳 India	71%	7%	22%
2	Sanae Takaichi	🇯🇵 Japan	61%	13%	26%
3	Lee Jae-myung	🇰🇷 South Korea	56%	8%	35%
4	Javier Milei	🇦🇷 Argentina	55%	4%	41%
5	Mark Carney	🇨🇦 Canada	48%	11%	41%
6	Anthony Albanese	🇦🇺 Australia	47%	9%	43%
7	Claudia Sheinbaum	🇲🇽 Mexico	45%	6%	49%
8	Karin Keller-Sutter	🇨🇭 Switzerland	43%	27%	30%
9	Donald Trump	🇺🇸 United States	43%	6%	51%
10	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	🇧🇷 Brazil	42%	4%	54%
11	Giorgia Meloni	🇮🇹 Italy	41%	6%	52%
12	Bart de Wever	🇧🇪 Belgium	41%	10%	49%
13	Christian Stocker	🇦🇹 Austria	41%	12%	48%
14	Donald Tusk	🇵🇱 Poland	38%	11%	51%
15	Jonas Gahr Støre	🇳🇴 Norway	37%	2%	61%
16	Ulf Kristersson	🇸🇪 Sweden	37%	8%	55%
17	Dick Schoof	🇳🇱 Netherlands	36%	24%	40%
18	Friedrich Merz	🇩🇪 Germany	36%	5%	60%
19	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	🇹🇷 Turkey	34%	15%	51%
20	Cyril Ramaphosa	🇿🇦 South Africa	34%	10%	57%
21	Pedro Sánchez	🇪🇸 Spain	33%	6%	61%
22	Keir Starmer	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	23%	9%	67%
23	Emmanuel Macron	🇫🇷 France	13%	7%	80%

Approval Gains Reflect New Leadership, Not Turnarounds

Japan, South Korea, Canada, Austria, and Belgium all show higher approval ratings at the end of 2025, but these increases reflect new leaders replacing unpopular predecessors.

Much of Europe enters 2026 with leaders facing net-negative approval. France’s Emmanuel Macron ranks last, with approval in the low teens and disapproval near 80%. The UK’s Keir Starmer, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, and several Nordic leaders also post approval ratings in the 30% range or lower.

In the United States, Donald Trump sits in the middle of the ranking, with approval and disapproval nearly evenly split.

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