@DigiTips

Following world leaders on social media. Helping leaders navigate the #DigitalDiplomacy landscape. Sharing #DigitalCommunications tips & advice by @Luefkens

 Geneva, Switzerland
DigiTips.ch
Joined September 2018
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Congratulations to Navi Pillay for winning the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize 🕊️ Her first reaction: "If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump"⬇️
The Nobel Prize
@NobelPrizeOct 9
BREAKING NEWS The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPeacePrize to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law. #NobelPrize
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International organizations spread their reach as growth on X stalls - @AreteNews ➡️🔗aretenews.com/international-…
Screenshot of the World health Organization' Facebook page with 36 million followers.

ALT Screenshot of the World health Organization' Facebook page with 36 million followers.

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Discover the most followed International Organizations and their leaders on @X. Institutional growth on X has basically flatlined but some personal accounts are exploding. ➡️🔗digitips.ch/international-or… #UNGA #DigitalDiplomacy
Most Followed International Organizations on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @UN (United Nations (UN)): 16,105,954 (-2.22%); @WHO (World Health Organization (WHO)): 12,670,369 (+5.05%); @UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)): 10,574,203 (+15.75%); @UNHuman Rights (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)): 5,969,485 (+45.46%); @UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)): 5,433,228 (+46.60%); @HRW (Human Rights Watch (HRW)): 4,762,962 (-3.39%); @WEF (World Economic Forum (WEF)): 4,328,134 (-1.31%); @IMFNews (International Monetary Fund (IMF)): 4,225,525 (+82%); @UN_Women (United Nations Women): 4,106,880 (+81%); @WFP (World Food Programme (WFP)): 3,919,947 (+86%).

ALT Most Followed International Organizations on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @UN (United Nations (UN)): 16,105,954 (-2.22%); @WHO (World Health Organization (WHO)): 12,670,369 (+5.05%); @UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)): 10,574,203 (+15.75%); @UNHuman Rights (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)): 5,969,485 (+45.46%); @UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)): 5,433,228 (+46.60%); @HRW (Human Rights Watch (HRW)): 4,762,962 (-3.39%); @WEF (World Economic Forum (WEF)): 4,328,134 (-1.31%); @IMFNews (International Monetary Fund (IMF)): 4,225,525 (+82%); @UN_Women (United Nations Women): 4,106,880 (+81%); @WFP (World Food Programme (WFP)): 3,919,947 (+86%).

Most Followed International Organizations Leaders on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @Antonio Guterres (António Guterres, Secretary General): 4,318,452 (+79%); @Lagarde (Christine Lagarde, President): 2,656,105 (+243%); @NOIweala (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General): 2,572,753 (+1.04%); @KGeorgieva (Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director): 2,421,709 (+602.55%); @UNReliefChief (Tom Fletcher, UN Relief Chief): 2,077,216 (+917%); @DrTedros (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General): 2,040,759 (-1.06%); @UnicefChief (Catherine Russell, Executive Director): 2,029,077 (+1,170%); @Volker_Turk (Volker Türk, High Commissioner): 2,016,770 (+1,578%); @WFPChief (Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director): 2,005,217 (+1,362%); @SaniaNishtar (Sania Nishtar, CEO): 1,098,648 (-0.88%).

ALT Most Followed International Organizations Leaders on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @Antonio Guterres (António Guterres, Secretary General): 4,318,452 (+79%); @Lagarde (Christine Lagarde, President): 2,656,105 (+243%); @NOIweala (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General): 2,572,753 (+1.04%); @KGeorgieva (Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director): 2,421,709 (+602.55%); @UNReliefChief (Tom Fletcher, UN Relief Chief): 2,077,216 (+917%); @DrTedros (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General): 2,040,759 (-1.06%); @UnicefChief (Catherine Russell, Executive Director): 2,029,077 (+1,170%); @Volker_Turk (Volker Türk, High Commissioner): 2,016,770 (+1,578%); @WFPChief (Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director): 2,005,217 (+1,362%); @SaniaNishtar (Sania Nishtar, CEO): 1,098,648 (-0.88%).

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Replying to @DigiTips @WHO @UN @wef @UNESCO @WFP @UNHumanRights @WorldBankGroup @WWF @Lagarde @DrTedros @unicefchief @NOIweala @KGeorgieva @volker_turk @UNReliefChief @WFPChief @SaniaNishtar @UN_Spokesperson
Institutional growth on X has basically flatlined (+0.3% median), but personal accounts are exploding: Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief), Catherine Russell (@UNICEFChief), @Volker_Turk, and Carl Skau (@WFPChief), and have each grown 10x+ this year.
Most Followed International Organizations on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @UN (United Nations (UN)): 16,105,954 (-2.22%); @WHO (World Health Organization (WHO)): 12,670,369 (+5.05%); @UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)): 10,574,203 (+15.75%); @UNHuman Rights (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)): 5,969,485 (+45.46%); @UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)): 5,433,228 (+46.60%); @HRW (Human Rights Watch (HRW)): 4,762,962 (-3.39%); @WEF (World Economic Forum (WEF)): 4,328,134 (-1.31%); @IMFNews (International Monetary Fund (IMF)): 4,225,525 (+82%); @UN_Women (United Nations Women): 4,106,880 (+81%); @WFP (World Food Programme (WFP)): 3,919,947 (+86%).

ALT Most Followed International Organizations on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @UN (United Nations (UN)): 16,105,954 (-2.22%); @WHO (World Health Organization (WHO)): 12,670,369 (+5.05%); @UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)): 10,574,203 (+15.75%); @UNHuman Rights (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)): 5,969,485 (+45.46%); @UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)): 5,433,228 (+46.60%); @HRW (Human Rights Watch (HRW)): 4,762,962 (-3.39%); @WEF (World Economic Forum (WEF)): 4,328,134 (-1.31%); @IMFNews (International Monetary Fund (IMF)): 4,225,525 (+82%); @UN_Women (United Nations Women): 4,106,880 (+81%); @WFP (World Food Programme (WFP)): 3,919,947 (+86%).

Most Followed International Organizations Leaders on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @Antonio Guterres (António Guterres, Secretary General): 4,318,452 (+79%); @Lagarde (Christine Lagarde, President): 2,656,105 (+243%); @NOIweala (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General): 2,572,753 (+1.04%); @KGeorgieva (Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director): 2,421,709 (+602.55%); @UNReliefChief (Tom Fletcher, UN Relief Chief): 2,077,216 (+917%); @DrTedros (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General): 2,040,759 (-1.06%); @UnicefChief (Catherine Russell, Executive Director): 2,029,077 (+1,170%); @Volker_Turk (Volker Türk, High Commissioner): 2,016,770 (+1,578%); @WFPChief (Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director): 2,005,217 (+1,362%); @SaniaNishtar (Sania Nishtar, CEO): 1,098,648 (-0.88%).

ALT Most Followed International Organizations Leaders on 𝕏 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @Antonio Guterres (António Guterres, Secretary General): 4,318,452 (+79%); @Lagarde (Christine Lagarde, President): 2,656,105 (+243%); @NOIweala (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General): 2,572,753 (+1.04%); @KGeorgieva (Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director): 2,421,709 (+602.55%); @UNReliefChief (Tom Fletcher, UN Relief Chief): 2,077,216 (+917%); @DrTedros (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General): 2,040,759 (-1.06%); @UnicefChief (Catherine Russell, Executive Director): 2,029,077 (+1,170%); @Volker_Turk (Volker Türk, High Commissioner): 2,016,770 (+1,578%); @WFPChief (Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director): 2,005,217 (+1,362%); @SaniaNishtar (Sania Nishtar, CEO): 1,098,648 (-0.88%).

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Replying to @DigiTips @WHO @UN @wef @UNESCO @WFP @UNHumanRights @WorldBankGroup @WWF
Christine Lagarde has overtaken António Guterres as the most-followed leader of an international organization.
Most Followed International Organizations Leaders on Social Media 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @Lagarde (Christine Lagarde, President): 6,685,357 (+59%); @Antonio Guterres (António Guterres, Secretary General): 6,408,571 (+55%); @DrTedros (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General): 4,717,813 (+3%); @UNICEFchief (Catherine Russell, Executive Director): 4,019,698 (+50%); @NOIweala (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala): 3,204,044 (+1%); @KGeorgieva (Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director): 3,015,845 (+254%); @Volker_Turk (Volker Türk, High Commissioner): 2,084,271 (+1,345%); @UNReliefChief (Tom Fletcher, UN Relief Chief): 2,083,300 (+920%); @WFPChief (Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director): 2,018,920 (+1,372%).

ALT Most Followed International Organizations Leaders on Social Media 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @Lagarde (Christine Lagarde, President): 6,685,357 (+59%); @Antonio Guterres (António Guterres, Secretary General): 6,408,571 (+55%); @DrTedros (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General): 4,717,813 (+3%); @UNICEFchief (Catherine Russell, Executive Director): 4,019,698 (+50%); @NOIweala (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala): 3,204,044 (+1%); @KGeorgieva (Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director): 3,015,845 (+254%); @Volker_Turk (Volker Türk, High Commissioner): 2,084,271 (+1,345%); @UNReliefChief (Tom Fletcher, UN Relief Chief): 2,083,300 (+920%); @WFPChief (Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director): 2,018,920 (+1,372%).

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The Most Followed International Organizations @WHO leads on 6 of 9 platforms. The @UN tops LinkedIn, X, and YouTube. Check out who's really winning social media in 2026. #UNGA
Most Followed International Organizations on Social Media 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @WHO (World Health Organization (WHO)): 81,752,810 (-1%); @UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)): 64,584,537 (+0.46%); @UnitedNations (United Nations (UN)): 46,513,700 (+6%); @WEF (World Economic Forum (WEF)): 29,224,657 (-0.39%); @UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)): 16,653,106 (+22%); @UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)): 15,203,400 (+2%); @WFP (World Food Programme (WFP)): 13,582,468 (+30%); @UNHumanRights (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)): 11,429,119 (+4%); @WorldBankGroup (World Bank Group): 11,335,016 (+4%); @WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)): 11,141,786 (-1%).

ALT Most Followed International Organizations on Social Media 2026. Ranked list, most to least followed: @WHO (World Health Organization (WHO)): 81,752,810 (-1%); @UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)): 64,584,537 (+0.46%); @UnitedNations (United Nations (UN)): 46,513,700 (+6%); @WEF (World Economic Forum (WEF)): 29,224,657 (-0.39%); @UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)): 16,653,106 (+22%); @UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)): 15,203,400 (+2%); @WFP (World Food Programme (WFP)): 13,582,468 (+30%); @UNHumanRights (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)): 11,429,119 (+4%); @WorldBankGroup (World Bank Group): 11,335,016 (+4%); @WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)): 11,141,786 (-1%).

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The 2026 rankings are here in time for #UNGA! Which International Organizations dominate social media this year? Read the full report here: ➡️🔗digitips.ch/international-or… All rankings can be downloaded here: ➡️🔗💲luefkens.gumroad.com/l/IntOr… #DigitalDiplomacy
Cover of the 2026 DigiTips Ranking of International Organizations on Social Media

ALT Cover of the 2026 DigiTips Ranking of International Organizations on Social Media

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Replying to @DigiTips @nayibbukele @AlsisiOfficial @prabowo @RoyalFamily @HHShkMohd @LulaOficial @Claudiashein @EmmanuelMacron @ShahBalen @GiorgiaMeloni
Why are so few World Leaders on Threads? Threads is the social network world leaders forgot. Three years after its launch, only 245 accounts of heads of state and government, foreign ministers and their institutions are active on Meta's microblogging platform, up from 210 a year ago and 191 in 2024. That is barely a third of the 753 leader accounts on Instagram, even though setting up a Threads profile requires little more than a tap from an existing Instagram account. Their combined following of 21 million, with a median of 11,462 followers per account, amounts to just 4% of the leaders' half-billion-strong Instagram audience. The maths of the platform is sobering: the median Threads account attracts just 13.5% of its owner's Instagram audience. Leaders bring their verified handle, their content pipeline and their name recognition to the new platform, and six out of seven of their Instagram followers stay behind. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the undisputed champion of Threads with 3.1 million followers (+10%), converting an above-average 22% of his Instagram audience. It is no accident: Brazil is Threads' second-largest market with some 36 million users. El Salvador's Nayib Bukele follows with 2.2 million and the strongest growth in the Top 10 (+46%), ahead of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy (2.1 million, +13%). Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (987,000), and Italy's Giorgia Meloni the EU’s most followed leader (695,000, +35%) complete the Top 5 list. More striking is who is not on the list: six of the ten most followed leaders on Instagram have no Threads presence at all. Narendra Modi, Donald Trump and the entire White House apparatus, Prabowo Subianto, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III are all absent, as are Emmanuel Macron, Javier Milei and India's President Droupadi Murmu. The paradox is greatest for Modi: the most followed world leader on Instagram has never posted on Threads, even though India is the platform's largest market with more than 50 million users. Their absence is, in large part, of Meta's own making. In February 2024, Meta announced that Instagram and Threads would no longer proactively recommend political content, which users had to actively opt in to see. For politicians, a network whose algorithm was designed to keep their content away from new audiences held little appeal, and Meta only reversed the policy in January 2025, conceding that its approach had been too blunt. Threads was effectively closed for political business during the exact window when world leaders were deciding whether to adopt it. Donald Trump is a case apart: the US President co-owns his own network, Truth Social, where he is contractually bound to post first, and was banned from Meta's platforms between 2021 and 2023. For everyone else the calculus was simply unfavourable: X still holds the diplomatic and journalistic audience that leaders want for their text statements, while Threads offered a fraction of an audience they already had elsewhere, for a parallel content workload. The result is a platform of abandoned storefronts. 95 of the 245 accounts, or 39%, are dormant or inactive. Many leaders set up shop in the early days, posted a few times, and quietly walked away. And yet, no one is losing followers: the median account grew by 23% year-on-year, the strongest growth rate of any network in this study, and only a single account registered a decline. Threads followers accumulate whether leaders post or not. There are signs the calculus is changing. Threads reached 500 million monthly active users in June 2026 and overtook X in daily active users in late 2025, closing in on its rival's estimated 550 million monthly users. Since political content returned to the recommendation algorithms, the early adopters are being rewarded: the European Commission (371,000, +83%) and Ursula von der Leyen (242,000, +114%) retain over 31% of their Instagram audiences on Threads, the best conversion rates of any Western institution, and the fastest-growing account in the entire dataset is the presidency of the Democratic Republic of Congo (+137%). Egypt's presidency has even achieved the rarest feat: its Threads following is double its Instagram audience, the only major account where the newcomer beats the incumbent. For the holdouts, the network they forgot may soon be too big to ignore. All figures are as of 1 May 2026. Download the full DigiTips Social Media Ranking and Digital Atlas ➡️🔗luefkens.gumroad.com/l/DigiT… #DigitalDiplomacy Comment, Like, Share and Follow @DigiTips for the next instalment of World Leaders on LinkedIn.
Ranking infographic on a blue background titled "Most Followed World Leaders on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts with follower counts and year-on-year growth as of 1 May 2026: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 3,142,427 (+10%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 2,194,900 (+46%); Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, 2,149,522 (+13%); Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, 987,291 (+6%); Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, 695,320 (+35%); Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, 566,912 (+32%); Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, 441,064 (+11%); Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, 307,674 (+44%); Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, 298,083 (+39%); and Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, 294,249 (+2%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic on a blue background titled "Most Followed World Leaders on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts with follower counts and year-on-year growth as of 1 May 2026: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 3,142,427 (+10%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 2,194,900 (+46%); Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, 2,149,522 (+13%); Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, 987,291 (+6%); Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, 695,320 (+35%); Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, 566,912 (+32%); Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, 441,064 (+11%); Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, 307,674 (+44%); Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, 298,083 (+39%); and Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, 294,249 (+2%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed EU Leaders on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, 695,320 (+35%); Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President, 241,861 (+114%); Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic, 184,226 (+28%); Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, 133,169 (+47%); Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, 100,658; Péter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary, 95,316; Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, 88,434 (+20%); Rob Jetten, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 69,104 combined on @JettenRob and @MinPres (+168%); Alex Stubb, President of Finland, 45,025 (+36%); and Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria, 41,690 (+25%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed EU Leaders on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, 695,320 (+35%); Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President, 241,861 (+114%); Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic, 184,226 (+28%); Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, 133,169 (+47%); Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, 100,658; Péter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary, 95,316; Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, 88,434 (+20%); Rob Jetten, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 69,104 combined on @JettenRob and @MinPres (+168%); Alex Stubb, President of Finland, 45,025 (+36%); and Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria, 41,690 (+25%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Latin American Leaders on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 3,142,427 (+10%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 2,194,900 (+46%); Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, 566,912 (+32%); Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, 283,057 (+11%); Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, 258,191 (+31%); Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador, 189,400 (+17%); José Antonio Kast, President of Chile, 189,240; Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay, 127,351 (+36%); Delcy Rodríguez, President of Venezuela, 117,950; and Rodrigo Paz Pereira, President of Bolivia, 50,307. Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Latin American Leaders on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 3,142,427 (+10%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 2,194,900 (+46%); Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, 566,912 (+32%); Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, 283,057 (+11%); Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, 258,191 (+31%); Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador, 189,400 (+17%); José Antonio Kast, President of Chile, 189,240; Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay, 127,351 (+36%); Delcy Rodríguez, President of Venezuela, 117,950; and Rodrigo Paz Pereira, President of Bolivia, 50,307. Source: DigiTips.ch.

Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Foreign Ministers on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, 289,522 (+23%); Antonio Tajani, Foreign Minister of Italy, 19,976 (+61%); Vivian Balakrishnan, Foreign Minister of Singapore, 17,672 (+12%); Yván Gil Pinto, Foreign Minister of Venezuela, 16,266 (+132%); Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Foreign Minister of Austria, 8,445 (+26%); Elmedin Konaković, Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 8,385 (+114%); José Manuel Albares, Foreign Minister of Spain, 7,546 (+203%); Elina Valtonen, Foreign Minister of Finland, 6,913 (+21%); Gideon Sa'ar, Foreign Minister of Israel, 6,798 (+14%); and Ronald Lamola, Foreign Minister of South Africa, 6,094 (+22%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Foreign Ministers on Threads 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, 289,522 (+23%); Antonio Tajani, Foreign Minister of Italy, 19,976 (+61%); Vivian Balakrishnan, Foreign Minister of Singapore, 17,672 (+12%); Yván Gil Pinto, Foreign Minister of Venezuela, 16,266 (+132%); Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Foreign Minister of Austria, 8,445 (+26%); Elmedin Konaković, Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 8,385 (+114%); José Manuel Albares, Foreign Minister of Spain, 7,546 (+203%); Elina Valtonen, Foreign Minister of Finland, 6,913 (+21%); Gideon Sa'ar, Foreign Minister of Israel, 6,798 (+14%); and Ronald Lamola, Foreign Minister of South Africa, 6,094 (+22%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

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Replying to @DigiTips @nayibbukele @AlsisiOfficial @prabowo @RoyalFamily @HHShkMohd @LulaOficial @Claudiashein @EmmanuelMacron @ShahBalen @GiorgiaMeloni
Modi breaks the 100-million-follower barrier on Instagram Instagram is the third biggest platform for world leaders with 481,169,294 followers combined on the 753 accounts of heads of state and government, foreign ministers and their institutions, up from 700 accounts a year ago. The typical @Instagram audience remains smaller than on @Facebook, with a median of 29,108 followers per account against 80,000 on Facebook, but the picture network is growing faster, with a median follower growth of 17% year-on-year compared to 15% on Facebook. Eleven leaders keep private Instagram accounts, and 22 accounts are dormant or inactive. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first world leader to break the 100-million barrier on Instagram with almost 102 million followers on his personal @NarendraModi account (+8%). His Instagram audience is almost twice the size of his Facebook page. US President Donald Trump has a combined following of 63 million on his personal @realdonaldtrump account, which grew by a third to 44 million, and the institutional @POTUS account with 19 million. The @WhiteHouse account registered one of the strongest growth rates of any institution, up 43% to 12 million followers. Instagram is Volodymyr Zelenskyy's network of choice. With 16 million followers, the Ukrainian President is the third most followed leader on the platform, almost five times his Facebook audience. Indonesia's @Prabowo Subianto (15 million) is the only leader in the Top 10 losing followers (-1%), ahead of Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (14.6 million, +9%). Pope Leo XIV attracted 13.3 million followers on the new @Pontifex account within his first year in office, instantly making him the seventh most followed world leader, whereas he has no personal presence on Facebook. El Salvador's @NayibBukele (11.9 million, +19%) and Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (11.7 million) follow, ahead of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (9.1 million). Argentina's Javier Milei comes in eleventh spot, with 6,433,202 followers, fewer than 30,000 ahead of French President @EmmanuelMacron (6,405,925). European leaders may trail in absolute numbers, but they are posting the strongest growth on the platform. Emmanuel Macron remains the most followed EU leader, up 44% year-on-year, just ahead of Italy's @GiorgiaMeloni who grew 59% to 6 million followers. German Chancellor @_FriedrichMerz reached 3.2 million followers combined on his personal account and the institutional @Bundeskanzler account (+57%). Spain's Pedro Sánchez more than tripled his following to 1.6 million. Collaboration is key. Many leaders have started collaborationswith their friends and peers or their institutional accounts to reach a wider audience as the posts appear on up to five profiles. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi took the now historic ‘Melodi’ selfie during COP28 in 2023. Their most recent video collaboration in late May 2026 has generated more than 290 million views and 13 million interactions on Instagram alone and helped boost the Italian Prime Minister who is the most followed female leader on Instagram. According to Donald Trump, Giorgia Meloni begged him for a photo at the G7 Summit in Evian in June 2026, a claim she has categorically denied. The exchange deepened the rift between the two politicians. India's President Droupadi Murmu, whose @PresidentOfIndia account grew 28% to 5.8 million followers is the second most followed female leader ahead of Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum (3.1 million, +32%), and Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan (3.1 million, +12%). Japan's Prime Minister @Takaichi_Sanae completes the female Top 5 with 1.3 million followers on Instagram, almost eight times her Facebook audience. Geographically, Instagram is the mirror image of Facebook. Asian leaders and governments dominate with 213 million followers on 172 accounts, 44% of the total. Europe fields the most accounts of any continent, 245, but they total only 105 million followers. Africa, which has the most pages on Facebook, is Instagram's blind spot: its 162 accounts muster just 20 million followers combined with a median of 7,472. Latin American presidents, by contrast, have the largest typical audiences: with a median of more than 100,000 followers per account, South America tops all continents. As on Facebook, personal accounts beat institutional ones: the 323 personal accounts hold 380 million followers, 79% of the total, compared with 87 million followers on the 408 institutional accounts. Foreign ministers barely register on the picture network. The 102 personal accounts of foreign ministers have a median of only 6,689 followers. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the most followed foreign minister with 5.6 million followers combined across his personal (2.5 million), Secretary (2.1 million) and senatorial accounts. He more than tripled his following in a year, the strongest growth of any foreign minister, ahead of India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with 3.5 million followers (+37%). All figures are as of 1 May 2026. Download the full DigiTips Social Media Ranking and Digital Atlas. ➡️🔗luefkens.gumroad.com/l/DigiT… #DigitalDiplomacy
Ranking infographic on a blue background titled "Most Followed World Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts with follower counts and year-on-year growth as of 1 May 2026: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, 101,869,742 (+8%); Donald Trump, US President, 63,066,603 combined on @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS (+27%); Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, 17,193,637 (+2%); Prabowo Subianto, President of Indonesia, 15,033,650 (−1%); Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 14,584,584 (+9%); King Charles III, United Kingdom, 13,285,985; Pope Leo XIV, 13,250,176 (+19%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 11,867,262 (+19%); Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Türkiye, 11,734,399 (+1%); and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, 9,128,484 (+3%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic on a blue background titled "Most Followed World Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts with follower counts and year-on-year growth as of 1 May 2026: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, 101,869,742 (+8%); Donald Trump, US President, 63,066,603 combined on @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS (+27%); Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, 17,193,637 (+2%); Prabowo Subianto, President of Indonesia, 15,033,650 (−1%); Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 14,584,584 (+9%); King Charles III, United Kingdom, 13,285,985; Pope Leo XIV, 13,250,176 (+19%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 11,867,262 (+19%); Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Türkiye, 11,734,399 (+1%); and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, 9,128,484 (+3%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Arab Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, 9,128,484 (+3%); Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, 3,972,871 (+5%); Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, 3,258,729 (+7%); Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, 2,731,324 (+10%); Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, 1,968,384 (+8%); King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, 1,542,524 (−1%); Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister of Morocco, 398,372 (−3%); Hamid Dabaiba, Prime Minister of Libya, 59,645 (+17%); Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia, 31,058 (−0.33%); and Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti, 9,450 (+33%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Arab Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, 9,128,484 (+3%); Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, 3,972,871 (+5%); Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, 3,258,729 (+7%); Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, 2,731,324 (+10%); Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, 1,968,384 (+8%); King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, 1,542,524 (−1%); Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister of Morocco, 398,372 (−3%); Hamid Dabaiba, Prime Minister of Libya, 59,645 (+17%); Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia, 31,058 (−0.33%); and Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti, 9,450 (+33%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed EU Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Emmanuel Macron, President of France, 6,405,925 (+44%); Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, 6,021,796 (+59%); Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany, 3,185,840 combined on @Bundeskanzler and @MerzCDU (+40%); Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, 1,631,660 (+235%); Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, 1,258,084 combined on @NawrockiPL and @Prezydent_PL; Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic, 943,544 (+23%); Rob Jetten, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 886,137 combined (+18%); Nicușor Dan, President of Romania, 868,912; Péter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary, 756,113; and Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President, 752,854 (+40%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed EU Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Emmanuel Macron, President of France, 6,405,925 (+44%); Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, 6,021,796 (+59%); Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany, 3,185,840 combined on @Bundeskanzler and @MerzCDU (+40%); Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, 1,631,660 (+235%); Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, 1,258,084 combined on @NawrockiPL and @Prezydent_PL; Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic, 943,544 (+23%); Rob Jetten, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 886,137 combined (+18%); Nicușor Dan, President of Romania, 868,912; Péter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary, 756,113; and Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President, 752,854 (+40%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Latin American Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 14,584,584 (+9%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 11,867,262 (+19%); Javier Milei, President of Argentina, 6,433,202 (+6%); Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, 3,056,114 (+32%); Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, 2,585,441 (+33%); Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, 1,797,671 (+6%); Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador, 1,438,767 (−1%); José Antonio Kast, President of Chile, 1,166,788; Delcy Rodríguez, President of Venezuela, 917,359; and Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay, 514,930 (+22%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

ALT Ranking infographic titled "Most Followed Latin American Leaders on Instagram 2026," listing the ten most followed accounts as of 1 May 2026: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, 14,584,584 (+9%); Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, 11,867,262 (+19%); Javier Milei, President of Argentina, 6,433,202 (+6%); Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, 3,056,114 (+32%); Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, 2,585,441 (+33%); Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, 1,797,671 (+6%); Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador, 1,438,767 (−1%); José Antonio Kast, President of Chile, 1,166,788; Delcy Rodríguez, President of Venezuela, 917,359; and Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay, 514,930 (+22%). Source: DigiTips.ch.

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Facebook is most popular among government leaders in the Global South Facebook is the social network where world leaders have their biggest audiences with over half a billion – 540,992,308 followers combined on the 838 pages of heads of state and government and foreign ministers surveyed. Facebook is most popular among governments in the Global South and especially Asia. The 180 Asian government and leaders’ pages total 208 million followers (38% of the total) with a median of 162,000 followers, double the global median. European leaders and governments have more pages (226) but only 89 million followers combined and a median of just 66,500. Africa fields the most pages of any continent (239). Growth is healthy overall: the median growth among all pages is +14.6% year-on-year according to the DigiTips ranking as of 1 May 2026. The leaders of El Salvador, Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Ethiopia all rank among the 10 most followed Facebook pages of world leaders. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the lead with some 70 million followers on his personal page @NarendraModi and the institutional @PMOIndia page. Trump's Facebook comeback. Beyond his personal @DonaldTrump page with 41 million followers and a growth of +14%, the official @POTUS page rocketed from 271,000 to 11 million followers over the past 12 months which represents a growth rate of +3,959%, the biggest growth in the dataset. El Salvador’s President @NayibBukele places third. The Facebook page of the social media-savvy president has grown by 60% to over 13 million followers. India’s President Droupadi Murmu is the most followed female leader on Facebook with 6.5 million followers. Her @PresidentOfIndia page places 11th and narrowly miss the Top 10 list. Mexico’s @Claudiashein and Italy’s @GiorgiaMeloni are the other two leading female leaders with 5.9 and 4.3 million followers respectively on their Facebook pages. G7 leaders are Facebook minnows. Apart from Donald Trump the G7 leaders show poorly on Facebook. French President @EmmanuelMacron is the most followed EU leader with 5.7 million, ahead of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Canada’s @MarkCarney almost quadrupled his followers up from 399,000 to 1.5 million. British Prime Minister @KeirStarmer (637,000 followers), Japan's @Takaichi_Sanae (170,000 followers), and German @Bundeskanzler @_FriedrichMerz (143,000 followers) have less than a million. Meanwhile China and Russia's leaders are not on Facebook, but their ministries of foreign affairs are. Personal beats institutional. 343 personal pages hold 335 million followers (62% of the total) versus 176 million followers across 472 institutional pages which seems to confirm that Facebook users prefer to follow leaders, not offices. However, some foreign ministries have amassed quite large audiences namely the US @StateDept, with a combined total of 4.3 million followers. The foreign offices of Egypt and India have more than 2 million followers respectively and the Philippines and Germany (which has a strong Spanish language page) register over a million followers. Foreign ministers are less popular on Facebook than the heads of state and government. The 116 personal pages of foreign ministers have a median of only 16,000 followers. US Secretary of State @MarcoRubio is the only one who has more than a million followers combined on his personal and his senatorial pages. And finally, Pope Leo XIV has no personal Facebook page, however @VaticanNews has a global page with 11 million followers in multiple languages. ➡️Download the full DigiTips Social Media Ranking and Digital Atlas luefkens.gumroad.com/l/DigiT… #DigitalDiplomacy ➡️Comment, Like, Share and Follow @DigiTips for the next instalment of World Leaders on Instagram.
Ranking of the Top 10 Most Followed World Leaders on Facebook

ALT Ranking of the Top 10 Most Followed World Leaders on Facebook

Ranking of the Top 10 Most Followed African Leaders on Facebook

ALT Ranking of the Top 10 Most Followed African Leaders on Facebook

Ranking of the Top 10 Most Followed EU Leaders on Facebook

ALT Ranking of the Top 10 Most Followed EU Leaders on Facebook

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