Ursula von der Leyen — European Commission President

Re-elected to lead the European Commission in 2024, Ursula von der Leyen commanded the policy agenda of an economic bloc of 450 million people in 2025. She championed a historic European rearmament fund, drove Green Deal implementation, and navigated the EU through US tariff threats. Her influence extended to trade, defense, climate, and digital regulation, making her arguably the most powerful woman in global governance—outperforming the #2 item on this list, Claudia Sheinbaum, in terms of economic scale, as the EU's GDP is over 23% larger than Mexico's.