Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
Confidence in world leaders
About the author
Ryan Neelam
Ryan Neelam was Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute. He led the flagship annual Lowy Institute Poll, was project director for the Global Diplomacy Index, and wrote about climate diplomacy and multilateral policy.
Australians have the highest levels of confidence in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (included in the Lowy Institute Poll for the first time), who captured global attention for his leadership of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion. Seven in ten Australians (72%) say they have either ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of confidence in Zelenskyy, the same as in recently sworn-in New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. More Australians express ‘a lot of confidence’ in Zelenskyy (31%) than they do in any of the ten other leaders listed.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are the next most highly ranked leaders, with 64% of Australians saying they have ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of confidence in each.
Confidence in US President Joe Biden remains steady at 59%, although this is ten points lower than 2021, the year he was inaugurated. Confidence in UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (63%) is marginally higher than in his predecessor Boris Johnson (59% in 2022).
Echoing the decline in Australians’ trust in China in recent years, confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping remains low at 11%. The only leaders in whom Australians have less confidence are Russian President Vladimir Putin (7%) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (3%).
