Ranked the No. 1 most powerful woman and female politician is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who directly controls the $3.3 trillion GDP of Germany, according to the IMF , and hugely influences the $16.2 trillion economy of the European Union. Germany is the world’s fifth largest economy and the largest led by a woman. In office since 2005, Merkel has topped the World’s Most Powerful Woman ten times, from 2006 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2016. The chancellor is now leading the charge in Europe to support the refugees fleeing crisis stricken regions across the Middle East, northern Africa and beyond.
A top five Power Women seven times since 2004, this year (like 2015) Hillary Clinton ranks at No. 2. Should she win the presidential race, she’ll be a strong contender for No. 1. If not, she may drop down or fall off the list altogether. Tune in on November 8, 2016.
No. 1: Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Germany
No. 2: Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate, U.S.
No. 3: Janet Yellen, Chair, Federal Reserve, U.S.
No. 12: Park Geun-hye, President, South Korea
No. 13: Michelle Obama, First Lady, U.S.
No. 17: Tsai Ing-wen, President, Taiwan
No. 18: Michelle Bachelet, President, Chile
No. 19: Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Italy
No. 23: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
No. 23: Elena Kagan, Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
No. 23: Sonia Sotomayor, Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
No. 26: Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counselor, Myanmar
No. 29: Queen Elizabeth II, Monarch, U.K.
No. 33: Loretta Lynch, Attorney General, U.S.
No. 36: Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Prime Minister, Bangladesh
No. 40: Samantha Power, Ambassador to the United Nations, U.S.
No. 43: Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister, International Cooperation and Development, U.A.E.
No. 50: Nicola Sturgeon, Minister, First Minister, Scotland
No. 52: Bidhya Bhandari, President, Nepal
No. 56: Elvira Nabiullina, Central Bank Governor, Russia
No. 58: Peng Liyuan, First Lady, China
No. 59: Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, Deputy governor, Bank of England, U.K.
No. 72: Dalia Grybauskaite, President, Lithuania
No. 74: Mary Jo White, Chair, Security and Exchange Commission, U.S.
No. 83: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President, Liberia
No. 96: Ameenah Gurib-fakim, President, Republic of Mauritius
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