PM Narendra Modi has once again topped the list of the world's most popular leaders with a 75% approval rate, according to a survey by Morning Consult.

Following PM Modi on the list of global popularity are Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the 2nd position with 63%, Australian PM Anthony Albanese at the 3rd position with 58%, Switzerland PM Ignazio Cassis with 52% and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi with 54% approval ratings.

The list that featured 22 world leaders ranked US president Joe Biden at the 5th spot with a 41% rating, followed by Canadian President Justin Trudeau at 39% and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at 38%.

List of World's Most Popular Leaders as per survey by Morning Consult:

  1. Narendra Modi (India) - 75%
  2. Andrés Manuel López Obrador (México) - 63%
  3. Anthony Albanese (Australia) - 58%
  4. Ignazio Cassis (Switzerland) - 52%
  5. Mario Draghi (Italy) - 54%
  6. Magdalena Andersson (Sweden) - 50%
  7. Alexander De Croo (Belgium) - 43%
  8. Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil) - 42%
  9. Fumio Kishida (Japan) - 38%
  10. Micheál Martin (Ireland) - 39%
  11. Joe Biden (United States) - 41%
  12. Justin Trudeau (Canada) - 39%
  13. Emmanuel Macron (France) - 34%
  14. Pedro Sánchez (Spain) - 34%
  15. Jonas Gahr Støre (Norway) - 30%
  16. Olaf Scholz (Germany) - 30%
  17. Karl Nehammer (Austria) - 28%
  18. Mateusz Morawiecki (Poland) - 26%
  19. Mark Rutte (Netherlands) - 27%
  20. Boris Johnson (United Kingdom) - 25%
  21. Petr Fiala (Czech Republic) - 22%
  22. Yoon Seok-youl (South Korea) - 21%

The survey revealed that according to most Indians, PM Modi is steering the country in the right direction. Surprisingly, PM Modi commanded high approval ratings even during the peak of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was a time when the Government was at the receiving end of immense criticism from both the opposition as well as sections of the public regarding the handling of the pandemic. Nevertheless, as per the survey, most Indians still believed that the PM Modi-led government responded to the pandemic in a robust and efficient manner.

PM Modi’s approval rating had soared to 83% in April 2020 and dipped by a margin to 65% amid the second wave but rose subsequently thereon, showing the confidence of the people upon his way of governance.

Earlier in January 2022 and in November 2021, Prime Minister Modi had topped the list of the most popular world leaders.

The approval ratings revealed how differently the public perceived their leaders during elections and how they perceive them now. This could be seen with how South Korea President Yoon Seok-youl who won the elections on a huge populist wave failed to earn the approval of South Koreans with the least rating of 21%.

The huge dip in approval ratings of US president Joe Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron, Canada PM Justin Trudeau is believed to be associated with the war on Ukraine. Another contributing factor could be the mask and Covid-19 vaccine mandates which saw widespread protests across those countries along with a spiralling infection and mortality toll during the Covid wave.