Obamas deemed world's most admired man and woman - poll

Barack Obama and Jacinda Ardern were most admired in New Zealand. Photo credit: Getty

Barack and Michelle Obama have been dubbed the most admired man and woman in the world, according to a new global poll.

The results, collected by data analytics firm YouGov, surveyed 45,000 people in 42 different countries.

For the first time since the survey began in 2014, the former US President has taken the title of most admired man from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. 

Gates now sits at second place, with Chinese President Xi Jinping in third.

YouGov lead data journalist Matthew Smith says the drop for Gates is likely due to widespread rumours alleging that he's involved in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michelle Obama remains as the most admired woman, taking over from actress Angelina Jolie in 2019. This year, Jolie ranked second and Queen Elizabeth II ranked third.

The poll results were calculated by answers to two questions: "who do you truly admire?", where respondents could answer multiple people, and "who do you most admire?", where respondents could pick just one.

Smith says entertainers dominate the female list, with the top 12 being actresses, singers or television presenters.

"By contrast, the list of most admired men contains more people from political, business and sporting backgrounds," says Smith.

A country breakdown of the results shows that in New Zealand, Barack Obama was deemed the most admired man and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern most admired woman.

David Attenborough and Richie McCaw took second and third place for the men's category in New Zealand - Queen Elizabeth II and Michelle Obama runners-up for the women's top spot.

Current US President Donald Trump sits at 15th place worldwide, dropping one spot since last year's poll.

Obama is admired more than Trump in every country except Russia, where Trump sits at 11th place and Obama 14th.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk saw the biggest jump in the global poll, climbing from 13th to ninth in one year.

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