Last year, half the world’s population voted in elections.
Some governments changed.
Others came back.
And still others stayed in power.
Now a month into the new year, how do the people feel about their leadership?
Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu charts the newest approval ratings of world leaders in 24 countries around the world, based on data collected by Morning Consult between Jan. 21–27, 2025.
Per the source: ratings reflect a trailing seven-day simple moving average of views among adults in each country surveyed.
Some Recently Elected (Or Re-Elected) Leaders Are Popular
India’s Narendra Modi (75% approve) and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum (66% approve) top this rating sample of world leaders.
| Leader | Country | Approve (%) | No Opinion (%) | Disapprove (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narendra Modi | 🇮🇳 India | 75 | 6 | 19 |
| Claudia Sheinbaum | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 66 | 7 | 26 |
| Javier Milei | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 65 | 5 | 30 |
| Karin Keller-Sutter | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 56 | 24 | 20 |
| Donald Trump | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 52 | 10 | 38 |
| Anthony Albanese | 🇦🇺 Australia | 46 | 11 | 42 |
| Dick Schoof | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 42 | 19 | 39 |
| Donald Tusk | 🇵🇱 Poland | 42 | 11 | 47 |
| Giorgia Meloni | 🇮🇹 Italy | 42 | 7 | 51 |
| Ulf Kristersson | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 38 | 11 | 51 |
| Cyril Ramaphosa | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 37 | 9 | 54 |
| Alexander De Croo | 🇧🇪 Belgium | 35 | 22 | 43 |
| Recep Tayyip Erdogan | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | 33 | 11 | 56 |
| Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 33 | 8 | 59 |
| Pedro Sanchez | 🇪🇸 Spain | 33 | 5 | 62 |
| Jonas Gahr Store | 🇳🇴 Norway | 30 | 9 | 60 |
| Keir Starmer | 🇬🇧 UK | 27 | 11 | 61 |
| Shigeru Ishiba | 🇯🇵 Japan | 25 | 21 | 54 |
| Karl Nehammer | 🇦🇹 Austria | 24 | 9 | 67 |
| Justin Trudeau | 🇨🇦 Canada | 22 | 7 | 71 |
| Olaf Scholz | 🇩🇪 Germany | 20 | 6 | 74 |
| Emmanuel Macron | 🇫🇷 France | 18 | 7 | 75 |
| Yoon Suk-Yeol | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 17 | 8 | 75 |
| Petr Fiala | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | 16 | 7 | 77 |
Modi was re-elected for a third term as India’s prime minister last May and Sheinbaum became Mexico’s (and North America’s) first woman president last October.
President Donald Trump, just sworn in for a second term, also makes the top five with a 52% approval rating. Relatedly, people in other countries may not be as pleased about a second Trump presidency.
However, the People Are Unhappy
In most of these countries, the majority of people disapprove of their current government leader.
Among the least-liked leaders is Yoon Suk Yeol, the suspended South Korean president who is currently detained on charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
And then there’s France’s Emmanuel Macron, with three quarters of the population disapproving. According to Euronews, his ratings plummeted after he called for snap elections in 2024.
Finally, there’s Petr Fiala, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. Fiala’s government is struggling to handle the country’s economic problems and is deeply unpopular after breaking a promise to not raise taxes.
Are you a political junkie and want more data insights? We’ve got you covered. Check out: Top U.S. Industries by Lobbying Spend in 2023 for your next conversation starter.
