Forbes published its 2025 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list on December 10, 2025. The top five are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, in that order. The ranking puts political and financial authority at the top, while the broader list spans business, technology, philanthropy and entertainment.
Who is No. 1 on Forbes’ 2025 list?
Ursula von der Leyen ranks No. 1. The top five, as identified in Forbes’ 2025 list coverage, are:
- Ursula von der Leyen — No. 1
- Christine Lagarde — No. 2
- Sanae Takaichi — No. 3
- Giorgia Meloni — No. 4
- Claudia Sheinbaum — No. 5
Forbes Australia’s report identifies von der Leyen, Lagarde and Takaichi in the first three places and places Meloni at No. 4; Forbes México identifies Sheinbaum as No. 5. Forbes Australia’s 2025 coverage and Forbes México’s report support these positions.
Why do political and financial leaders top the ranking?
The first five hold senior roles with authority over governments or major financial institutions. Those positions can shape public policy, monetary and financial conditions, and decisions affecting large populations and economies. That helps explain the prominence of political leaders and central-bank leadership in the ranking, but it does not make their power directly comparable: a head of government, a central-bank president and a business executive exercise influence through different mechanisms.
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Forbes presents the list across politics, finance, business, technology, philanthropy and entertainment. Its related coverage also highlights AI, finance, philanthropy and entertainment as areas where women on the list exert influence. The ranking is therefore best read as an editorial assessment across different kinds of authority, not as a single objective measure of power.
What does Forbes say about the list’s collective influence?
Forbes’ 2025 coverage says the 100 women collectively command $37 trillion in economic power and influence more than 1 billion people. Forbes does not explain the calculation in the surfaced coverage, so these figures should be treated as the publication’s aggregate framing rather than an independently audited measurement. The $37 trillion figure is not a personal-wealth total; the wording describes economic power collectively.
Forbes’ package also describes the women’s influence as spanning technology, finance and politics, alongside philanthropy and entertainment. That breadth matters: influence can come from formal office, control of institutions and capital, or cultural reach, and the list brings those channels together.
How does Forbes rank the women?
The exact methodology and weighting for the 2025 ranking are not established in the accessible coverage. A Forbes explainer published in December 2022 for its 2023 list described four criteria: money, media, impact and spheres of influence. That is useful historical context, but it does not confirm that Forbes used the same criteria or weights in 2025. Forbes’ 2023 methodology explainer sets out that earlier approach.
Because the ranking combines unlike forms of authority, comparisons are more informative when they identify the source and reach of a person’s influence—such as political office, leadership of a major institution, financial resources or cultural platforms—rather than implying a precise common unit of power.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can readers find the full 100-name ranking?
Forbes published its full 2025 list on December 10, 2025, edited by Moira Forbes, Maggie McGrath, Erin Spencer Sairam and Erika Burho. The available coverage verifies the top five, but not the complete ordered list of 100 names and placements. Forbes’ primary list page is titled Forbes World’s Most Powerful Women of 2025; additional individual positions should be checked against that list rather than inferred from the top-five coverage.
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