Ever tried to get eight billion people to agree on a pizza topping? It's impossible. Now imagine trying to get them to agree on a human being. When we ask who is the most liked person in the world, we're basically diving into a massive, messy pool of fame, cultural bias, and cold, hard data.
Most people guess it’s a movie star or a world leader. They’re usually wrong. Being famous isn't the same as being "liked." In fact, the more people know you, the more likely someone is to absolutely despise you. It's the "fame tax."
To find the winner, we have to look at three different buckets: sheer digital following, global "admiration" polls, and political approval ratings.
The Numbers Game: Cristiano Ronaldo and the 800 Million
If you measure "liking" by the click of a "Follow" button, the conversation starts and ends with Cristiano Ronaldo. As of early 2026, the man has blown past the 800 million follower mark across his social platforms. That is a staggering number. It’s roughly 10% of the entire human population.
But is a follower a "liker"? Kinda.
Lionel Messi isn't far behind, sitting comfortably over 500 million. In the sports world, these two are the undisputed kings. But sports is tribal. If you're a die-hard Real Madrid fan, you might respect Messi, but you probably don't "like" him in the way his fans in Argentina do. This is why raw numbers don't tell the whole story.
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Then you've got the entertainment heavyweights. Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift have massive, fiercely loyal fanbases. Swifties aren't just fans; they’re a global economic force. However, both stars also deal with significant "anti-fandoms."
Who Most People Get Wrong: The World Leaders
You’d think a country's leader would be the most liked person there. Rarely. Most democratic leaders are lucky to keep their approval ratings above 40%.
Except for Narendra Modi.
Heading into 2026, India’s Prime Minister consistently holds a global-high approval rating, often hovering around 71%. When you consider India’s population is over 1.4 billion, that is a massive amount of "liking" concentrated in one person. He’s arguably the most popular active politician on the planet. But again, "likability" is often confined by borders. Outside of India and the diaspora, those numbers shift.
The Quiet Winners: Scientists and The Pope
When YouGov and Gallup run their "Most Admired" surveys, the results get interesting. They don't always favor the loudest person in the room.
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- The Papal Effect: Pope Leo XIV, elected in 2025, has hit the ground running with a net-favorable score of +46 in recent Gallup data. People generally like the "new guy" energy at the Vatican. He currently holds a 57% favorable rating against a tiny 11% unfavorable rating. That’s a rare ratio.
- The Humanitarian Icons: Names like Malala Yousafzai and Michelle Obama consistently rank at the top of "most admired" lists. Why? Because they represent ideals rather than just products or policies.
- The Silent Respected: Interestingly, global surveys show that "Scientists" and "Doctors" as a category are more liked than any individual celebrity. If you had to pick a person who embodies that—say, a high-profile medical researcher—they often pull higher trust scores than a billionaire tech mogul.
Speaking of moguls, Elon Musk is a fascinating case study. He’s one of the most searched people in 2026, with over 4 million searches a month, but his "likability" is a roller coaster. You either think he's saving the species or ruining the internet. There is no middle ground.
Why "Most Liked" Is a Moving Target
Honestly, the "most liked" person depends on how you ask the question. If you go by pure volume of positive sentiment, you’re looking at someone like Keanu Reeves or Tom Hanks. They have the "Golden Retriever" effect—it's almost culturally taboo to dislike them.
But they don't have the 800 million followers that Ronaldo has.
The Nuance of Global Likability
- Regional Heroes: In South Asia, Virat Kohli is a deity. In the US, most people couldn't pick him out of a lineup.
- The "Clean" Slate: New leaders often enjoy a "honeymoon" period. For instance, Japan's Sanae Takaichi and South Korea's Lee Jae-myung entered 2026 with high initial approval because they weren't their predecessors.
- The "Relatability" Factor: This is where MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) wins. By January 2026, his YouTube empire has made him the most "liked" figure for anyone under the age of 25. He’s seen as a guy who just gives money away. That’s a hard brand to hate.
Identifying the Real Winner
If we are being strictly objective and looking for the person with the highest "Positive-to-Negative" ratio globally, it's likely a toss-up between Pope Leo XIV and humanitarian figures like Malala.
However, if "most liked" means the greatest total number of people who would say "I like that person," the answer is Cristiano Ronaldo, simply due to the sheer scale of the football-watching world.
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How to Apply This Knowledge
Knowing who is "liked" isn't just trivia. It’s about understanding "Soft Power."
If you're looking to understand human connection or even branding, look at the common threads between these people. They all provide something specific: Ronaldo provides excellence, MrBeast provides altruism (or the spectacle of it), and the Pope provides moral clarity.
Take these steps to evaluate "likability" in your own circles:
- Audit your "Net Favorability": Don't just look at who follows you; look at the ratio of support to criticism.
- Focus on Trust over Fame: The data shows that the most respected people aren't always the most famous. Reliability beats visibility.
- Study the "Unlikables": Look at why figures like Elon Musk or certain politicians have high "dislike" scores despite their fame. Usually, it's a lack of neutrality. If you want to be universally liked, you often have to be less controversial, which usually means being less interesting.
The quest to find who is the most liked person in the world reveals more about us than it does about them. We like what we want to be. Whether that’s a champion athlete, a selfless giver, or a spiritual guide, the "winner" is always just a mirror of global values at that moment.