Barack and Michelle Obama are world's most admired people

Barack and Michelle Obama are the most admired people in the world, according to a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov, published on Friday.

According to YouGov, this is the first time the former US President has reached the top of the men's rankings since the "World's most admired" survey was launched in 2014.

Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates is now ranked the second most admired man, after sitting in first place last year.

Chinese leader and party leader Xi Jinping follows as the third most admired man, according to the survey results.

The most admired woman in the world remains Michelle Obama, with actress Angelina Jolie now in second place and the British Queen Elizabeth II in third place. Last year, US presenter Oprah Winfrey came second, Angelina Jolie third.

45,000 interviews

YouGov interviewed 45,000 people in 42 countries in a two-stage process. First, the respondents were openly asked which men and women were most admired.

From these names, two lists of the 20 most frequently named men and women were then drawn up - and the lists for the individual countries were supplemented with regionally famous personalities.

Finally, from May to September 2020, people were asked who they greatly admired (with multiple selections possible) and who was the most admired (with only one single selection allowed). From this, percentages were calculated, on which the rankings were based, YouGov explained.