Despite having only 101 posts on Instagram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as the most followed world leader on the photo-sharing app with 7 million followers. According to a study conducted by public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, Modi is also the most “effective” world leader on Instagram, as each of his posts received on average 2,23,000 comments and likes in the past 12 months.

United States President Donald Trump is the second most followed world leader on the app with 6.4 million followers, and Pope Francis is at third place with 3.7 million followers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Pope and Trump were the other most effective world leaders on the list.

Advertisement

Compared to Modi’s 101 posts, Trump has 1,687 posts. But, the Indian prime minister enjoyed a better interaction rate at 5.15% compared to Trump’s 3.39%. In February, another study conducted by Burson-Marsteller said Modi was the most followed world leader on Facebook with over 40 million followers.

The study, which is titled “World Leaders on Instagram”, had observed the activity of almost 325 Instagram accounts belonging to various heads of state and government and foreign ministers over the past one year using Facebook’s CrowdTangle tool.

In 2016, former US President Barack Obama was the most followed world leader on Instagram. Obama currently has 13.9 million followers – more than Trump’s and Modi’s followers combined. The most-liked picture of all world leaders in the past 12 months is one with Barack Obama and his wife Michelle during the Halloween celebrations at the White House – it garnered 1.5 million interactions. The picture of Trump and his family watching the presidential election results on November 9, 2016 was the most-commented picture of a world leader in the past year.

“Leaders around the world are creating online communications that convey global social and political context while also sharing a sense of personality and creativity,” chairman and CEO at Burson-Marsteller, Don Baer, said.