Country rankings

What Country has the Highest Paid Government Leader?

Saudi Arabia has the highest Head of State Annual Salary ($9.6B), followed by United Arab Emirates ($4.61B) and Kuwait ($165M). Laos has the lowest ($1,630).

EconomicsPolitics & Government192 countries · 4 metricsUpdated Feb 14, 2025Original page
1 source
179 of 235 countries
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Cost-of-living adjustmentConverts wages and incomes to what they would buy at average US prices, so $100k in a cheap state and $100k in an expensive one are not treated as equal.More in the glossary →

Head of State Annual Salary

Darker green is better (higher is better). Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Best first: the first 15 and last 5 of 179 countries.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median
$74,411
Middle half $36.07K – $151.34K
Average
$81.41M
179 countries
Highest
$9.6B
Saudi Arabia
Lowest
$1,630
Laos

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

191 countries · # = rank by Head of State Annual Salary
#
1Saudi Arabia$9.6BKing
2United Arab Emirates$4.61BPresident
3Kuwait$165MEmir
4Monaco$52.06MPrince
5Qatar$36MEmir
6Norway$33.24MKing
7Sweden$15.75MKing
8Luxembourg$12.33MGrand Duke
9Denmark$11.35MKing
10Oman$7.24MSultan
11Netherlands$6.08MKing
12Japan$3.08MEmperor
13Tonga$2.13MKing
14Singapore$1.44MPresident
15Jordan$847,457King
16Iraq$809,673President
17Cameroon$620,976President
18Syria$576,000—
19Hong Kong$568,400Chief Executive
20Switzerland$507,000President
21Morocco$488,604King
22Ireland$401,000President
23United States$400,000President
24Austria$378,666President
25Australia$354,000Governor-General
26Iceland$317,000President
27Spain$304,055King
28Mauritania$300,000President
29Canada$290,000Governor-General
30Italy$275,147President
31Germany$268,448President
32Malaysia$263,500Monarch
33New Zealand$260,245Governor-General
34South Africa$223,500President
35South Korea$211,320President
36Turkey$197,400President
37Chile$196,000President
38France$194,300President
39Kenya$192,200President
40Uganda$183,216President
41Taiwan$180,000President
42Guatemala$178,680President
43Israel$173,000President
44Greece$154,739President
45Equatorial Guinea$152,680President
46Lebanon$150,000President
47Czechia$149,517President
48Zimbabwe$146,590President
49Finland$141,367President
50Uruguay$139,608President
51Russia$136,000President
52Colombia$134,676President
53Suriname$133,560President
54Slovakia$129,284President
55Hungary$127,159President
56Somalia$120,000President
56Dominican Republic$120,000President
56Palestine$120,000President
59Comoros$117,060President
60Barbados$116,024President
61Costa Rica$113,520President
62Azerbaijan$110,000President
63Republic of the Congo$108,400President
64Libya$105,000President
65Paraguay$103,044President
66Brazil$102,524President
67Ivory Coast$100,000President
68Botswana$99,950President
69Namibia$99,241President
70Portugal$96,469President
71Philippines$95,554President
72Mauritius$93,783President
73Guyana$91,700President
74Georgia$90,890President
75Cyprus$90,025President
76Liberia$90,000President
76Palau$90,000President
78Kiribati$89,246President
79Lithuania$86,136President
80Rwanda$85,000President
81India$84,500President
82Panama$84,000President
83San Marino$83,682Captains Regent
84Samoa$82,000Head of State
85Slovenia$80,142President
86Bulgaria$79,000President
87Ghana$76,000President
88Ecuador$75,132President
89Estonia$74,595President
90Nauru$74,411President
91Malawi$74,300President
92Malta$70,955President
93Latvia$70,718President
94Egypt$70,400President
94Jamaica$70,400Governor General
96Poland$70,026President
97Algeria$70,000President
98Nigeria$69,000President
99Mali$68,900President
100Mexico$67,903President
101Pakistan$65,794President
102Gambia$65,000President
102Gabon$65,000President
104Zambia$63,100President
105Fiji$62,784President
106El Salvador$62,172President
107Romania$61,296President
108South Sudan$60,000President
108Marshall Islands$60,000President
110Peru$56,530President
111Papua New Guinea$56,249Governor-General
112Grenada$55,014Governor General
113Trinidad and Tobago$54,600President
114Lesotho$52,778King
115Argentina$51,840President
116Indonesia$51,600President
117DR Congo$51,500President
118Saint Kitts and Nevis$51,000Governor-General
119Honduras$49,908President
120Venezuela$48,816President
121Tanzania$47,300President
121Burundi$47,300President
123Mozambique$46,800President
124Ethiopia$45,270President
125Saint Vincent and the Grenadines$45,042Governor-General
126Croatia$44,375President
127Bosnia and Herzegovina$42,650President
128Central African Republic$42,524Central African Republic
129Myanmar$40,980President
130Antigua and Barbuda$40,233Governor-General
131Bolivia$39,924President
132Nicaragua$38,316President
133Bahamas$37,000Governor-General
134Saint Lucia$36,111Governor-General
135Afghanistan$36,030Leader
136Burkina Faso$33,810President
137Dominica$33,671President
138Belarus$33,600President
139Montenegro$33,440President
140Armenia$32,970President
141Vanuatu$32,295President
142Micronesia$32,000President
143Timor-Leste$30,000President
144Benin$29,810President
145Sudan$29,320President
146Albania$28,074President
147Belize$26,241Governor-General
148Seychelles$23,700President
149Guinea$22,390President
150China$22,000President
151Angola$21,054President
152Kazakhstan$20,400President
153Cape Verde$20,380President
154Kyrgyzstan$18,800President
155Tuvalu$17,660Governor-General
156Nepal$17,584President
157North Macedonia$17,250President
158Bangladesh$17,100President
159Tunisia$16,700President
160Chad$16,640President
160Solomon Islands$16,640Governor-General
162Uzbekistan$15,600President
163Yemen$15,300President
164Senegal$15,210President
165Serbia$14,950President
166Tajikistan$13,200President
167Sierra Leone$12,220President
168Mongolia$11,620President
169Ukraine$11,600President
170Vietnam$11,103President
171Turkmenistan$10,800President
172Djibouti$10,000President
173Moldova$9,264President
174Sri Lanka$7,380President
175Guinea-Bissau$6,360President
176Eritrea$6,000President
177Haiti$3,782President
178Sao Tome and Principe$2,930President
179Laos$1,630Party General Secretary and President
—Iran—Supreme Leader
—Thailand—King
—Niger—President
—North Korea—Party General Secretary and President of State Affairs
—Cambodia—King
—Belgium—Monarch
—Togo—President
—Bahrain—Monarch
—Bhutan—Monarch
—Brunei—Monarch
—Andorra—Monarch
—Liechtenstein—Prince

What correlates with Head of State Annual Salary?

Pearson r against 1,417 other country metrics sharing at least 108 countries. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Head of State Annual Salary tend to score higher on these

  1. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)Indian Population by Country
    r = +0.72 · very strong · n = 169
    Plot
  2. Ecological Footprint per PersonEcological Footprint by Country
    r = +0.49 · moderate · n = 116
    Plot
  3. Gun Imports 2010 to 2019Gun Exports by Country
    r = +0.48 · moderate · n = 152
    Plot
  4. Total Overseas Indian PopulationIndian Population by Country
    r = +0.41 · moderate · n = 172
    Plot
  5. Radiance per 1k PopulationDarkest Countries
    r = +0.40 · moderate · n = 177
    Plot
  6. Gun Imports 2020 to 2025Gun Exports by Country
    r = +0.40 · moderate · n = 147
    Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Head of State Annual Salary tend to score lower on these

  1. Drought Risk Score (Aqueduct)Droughts by Country
    r = −0.27 · weak · n = 127
    Plot
  2. Polity IV ScorePolity Data Series by Country
    r = −0.26 · weak · n = 149
    Plot
  3. V-Dem PCI ScoreV Dem Democracy Index by Country
    r = −0.22 · weak · n = 161
    Plot
  4. A+ Blood TypeBlood Type by Country
    r = −0.22 · weak · n = 114
    Plot
  5. % of Pop. Living on Less Than $10 USD/DayPoverty Rate by Country
    r = −0.22 · weak · n = 151
    Plot
  6. Death Rate GHDEDeath Rate by Country
    r = −0.21 · weak · n = 177
    Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Head of State Annual Salary?
Saudi Arabia has the highest Head of State Annual Salary, at $9.6B, followed by United Arab Emirates ($4.61B) and Kuwait ($165M).
Which country has the lowest Head of State Annual Salary?
Laos has the lowest Head of State Annual Salary, at $1,630.
What is the median Head of State Annual Salary across countries?
The median is $74,411 across the 179 countries with data.
Where does this what country has the highest paid government leader? data come from?
Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: List of salaries of heads of state and government - Wiki.