After the devastating second wave of COVID-19 in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lost the top spot in a ranking of net approval rates among 13 world leaders. As of June 29, Modi came second in the poll published by Morning Consult, having been overtaken by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Modi’s approval rating came down 14 percent since late March and 34 percent since a high in May 2020. As reasons for the failure of India’s COVID response are being discussed in the country, critics have highlighted Modi’s autocratic tendencies which they claim cause problem in relation not only to the coronavirus but to many areas of public life.
As the COVID-19 crisis is dragging on, world leaders approval ratings have mostly suffered in 2021. Only five out of 13 world leaders saw approval rise between March and June. Germany’s Angela Merkel gained 11 percent, but has not returned to the 20+ percent of net approval she enjoyed between December and January.
Other than Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga experienced some of the worst approval ratings and losses in the survey. While Macron is grappling with vaccination speed, the COVID deficit and a string of extremist attacks, Suga has similar coronavirus-related problems and the pandemic-era Olympic Games on his plate.
This chart shows the net approval ratings of world leaders and its change between March 29 and June 29, 2021.
