Special Report
20 Highest Paid World Leaders
April 16, 2019 2:24 pm
Last Updated: January 12, 2020 10:33 am
15. Lars Løkke Rasmussen
> Title: Prime Minister of Denmark
> Annual salary (in USD): $249,774
> Time in office: 3 years, 9 months
> GDP per capita: $46,329.81
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has an annual salary of the equivalent of nearly $13.5 million. She is not, however, an elected official — Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is. Rasmussen makes a comparatively modest $249,774 a year.
14. Adrian Hasler
> Title: Prime Minister of the Principality of Liechtenstein
> Annual salary (in USD): $254,660
> Time in office: 6 years
> GDP per capita: N/A
With an annual pay of $254,660, Prime Minister Adrian Hasler is a former banker who worked for VP Bank AG, where the salary of the average employee is $128,648. Hasler was a division head there.
13. Charles Michel
> Title: Prime Minister of Belgium
> Annual salary (in USD): $262,964
> Time in office: 4 years, 5 months
> GDP per capita: $42,497.40
Prime Minister Charles Michel earns more than five times the average wage of a Belgian citizens. Belgium levies one of the highest income taxes for individuals in the world.
12. Justin Trudeau
> Title: Prime Minister of Canada
> Annual salary (in USD): $267,041
> Time in office: 3 years, 5 months
> GDP per capita: $44,134.80
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau earns the equivalent of nearly $270,000 U.S. dollars per year. In Canada, the prime minister’s compensation includes the Member of the House of Commons Basic Sessional Indemnity, the prime minister salary, and the prime minister car allowance.
11. Cyril Ramaphosa
> Title: President of the Republic of South Africa
> Annual salary (in USD): $273,470.00
> Time in office: 1 year, 1 month
> GDP per capita: $12,317.97
The average household income in South Africa is $10,872 a year, nearly a third of the average across OECD nations. The President of South Africa, Cryil Ramaphosa, earns more than 25 times the average wage in South Africa. South Africa has been struggling with stagnant GDP growth, high unemployment, and social unrest. As a result, Ramaphosa’s administration declared salary cuts for Members of Parliament and the executive branch. The National Treasury, however, has shown in its 2019 budget statements that Ramaphosa actually received a salary increase for the current fiscal year.