The Body Shop has uncovered the most inspiring and influential women around the world
- Ariana Grande has been crowned the most influential woman in the world, with a staggering 328 million social media followers
- Kamala Harris received the most Wikipedia page views in 2020 with over 39m
- In true royal style, Queen Elizabeth II is the second most searched for influential woman in the UK with a total of 1.1 million searches in 2020 alone
In the last century, women have changed the world and there is endless inspiration to be found in the women of this index who have shifted our culture in meaningful ways.
To uncover the top 100 influential women in the world, The Body Shop analysed the number of Google searches for each famous woman over the last year, how many followers they have across social media platforms, the number of GIFs of each woman and the number of Wikipedia page views.
Top 20 most influential women in the world
| Rank | Name | Country | Category | Total # Searches 2020 (UK) | Total # Social Media Followers | Total # GIFs | Total # Wikipedia Page Views 2020 |
| 1 | Ariana Grande | United States | Media & Entertainment | 7,392,000 | 328,300,000 | 1,995 | 7,558,269 |
| 2 | Kim Kardashian | United States | Media & Entertainment | 6,252,000 | 299,700,000 | 1,091 | 6,521,750 |
| 3 | Taylor Swift | United States | Media & Entertainment | 4,068,000 | 251,400,000 | 4,303 | 7,221,061 |
| 4 | Kamala Harris | United States | Politics & Policy | 5,082,000 | 35,100,000 | 1,503 | 39,467,219 |
| 5 | Kylie Jenner | United States | Media & Entertainment | 3,974,000 | 280,600,000 | 310 | 5,696,835 |
| 6 | Billie Eilish | United States | Media & Entertainment | 6,459,000 | 93,200,000 | 428 | 13,687,859 |
| 7 | Selena Gomez | United States | Media & Entertainment | 2,637,000 | 303,800,000 | 1,196 | 4,701,014 |
| 8 | Katy Perry | United States | Media & Entertainment | 2,434,000 | 232,800,000 | 2,706 | 5,358,661 |
| 9 | Beyoncé Knowles | United States | Media & Entertainment | 2,951,000 | 201,000,000 | 2,653 | 5,090,788 |
| 10 | Jennifer Lopez | United States | Media & Entertainment | 2,143,000 | 204,900,000 | 1,142 | 7,107,950 |
| 11 | Rihanna | Barbados | Media & Entertainment | 2,858,000 | 113,000,000 | 2,600 | 4,226,022 |
| 12 | Kendall Jenner | United States | Media & Entertainment | 2,675,000 | 202,300,000 | 658 | 2,882,371 |
| 13 | Cardi B | United States | Media & Entertainment | 2,982,000 | 115,100,000 | 1,519 | 5,389,452 |
| 14 | Danica Patrick | United States | Sport | 115,000 | 2,502,000 | 7,813 | 1,161,263 |
| 15 | Emma Watson | United States | Media & Entertainment | 4,503,000 | 88,800,000 | 232 | 5,317,215 |
| 16 | Ellen DeGeneres | United States | Media & Entertainment | 1,950,500 | 179,100,000 | 317 | 3,732,030 |
| 17 | Scarlett Johansson | United States | Media & Entertainment | 4,421,000 | 0 | 490 | 8,833,363 |
| 18 | Shakira | Colombia | Media & Entertainment | 1,386,000 | 122,700,000 | 792 | 7,143,076 |
| 19 | Oprah Winfrey | United States | Media & Entertainment | 1,111,100 | 63,200,000 | 2,795 | 3,000,715 |
| 20 | Nicola Sturgeon | United Kingdom | Politics & Policy | 5,244,000 | 1,514,000 | 78 | 992,219 |
Ariana Grande takes the crown for the most influential woman across the globe
The “God is a Woman” singer rose to fame on the Nickelodeon series Victorious, becoming a global superstar after signing a record deal in 2011, with a debut album that went straight to number 1.
Ariana is famously vegan and advocates the benefits of a plant-based diet. She uses her social media platform to share charities which she believes are worthwhile and encouraged her followers to take social distancing and self-isolation rules seriously throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Following a terrorist attack at her 2017 concert in Manchester, Ariana hosted a benefit called One Love Manchester where she raised £19,672,400 to help support victims of the attack.
At 28, Ariana has won two Grammys and was the highest-paid female musician on Forbes’ 2020 Celebrity 100 list, listed as being worth $72 million. She is also the most followed woman on Instagram, with over 256 million followers, and had over 7.5m Wikipedia page views in 2020 alone – helping her to secure the top spot as most influential woman.
Kamala Harris had the most Wikipedia page views in 2020 with over 39.4m
In 2021, Kamala Harris became the first woman to serve as the Vice President of the United States, after being sworn in with President Joe Biden. She was elected Vice President after a lifetime of public service. There were 5 million Google searches for ‘Kamala Harris’ in 2020 and she has a staggering 35 million followers on social media.
In her first speech as Vice President, she famously said: “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last”.
Queen Elizabeth II is the second most searched for with a total of 1.1 million UK searches
Whilst Queen Elizabeth II didn’t make the top 20 for the most influential around the world, she is the second most influential woman in the UK. At 95 years of age, she has almost 15 million social media followers and there were nearly 3 million views of her Wikipedia page in 2020.
It’s no wonder there is such a great interest in The Queen as she is the only female royal to have joined the military services, the only living head of the state to have served in the military during the second world war and is Britain’s longest serving monarch.
Top 10 most influential women from the UK
| Rank | Name | Category | Total Searches UK 2020 | Total # Social Followers | Total # GIFs | Total # Wikipedia Page Views in 2020 |
| 1 | Nicola Sturgeon | Politics & Policy | 5,244,000 | 1,514,000 | 78 | 992,219 |
| 2 | Queen Elizabeth II | Politics & Policy | 752,900 | 14,800,000 | 90 | 2,977,379 |
| 3 | Michaela Coel | Media & Entertainment | 1,111,200 | 313,000 | 123 | 1,224,186 |
| 4 | Jacqueline McKenzie | Philanthropy | 22,800 | 8,977 | 976 | 129,759 |
| 5 | Emma Walmsley | Business | 39,000 | 0 | 0 | 99,409 |
| 6 | Donna Kinnair | Health | 17130 | 0 | 0 | 28813 |
| 7 | Eliza Manningham-Buller | Philanthropy | 5410 | 0 | 0 | 35592 |
| 8 | Amanda Pritchard | Health | 8820 | 5618 | 0 | 661 |
| 9 | Marianne Lake | Finance | 4810 | 0 | 0 | 17314 |
| 10 | Donna Langley | Media & Entertainment | 2680 | 0 | 0 | 26123 |
Nicola Sturgeon takes the top spot as the most influential woman in the UK, with over 5 million searches on Google, 1.5 million followers on social media and 992,219 Wikipedia page views in 2020. Nicola has been serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party since 2012 and is the first woman to hold the position.
BAFTA award-winning actress Michaela Coel takes third place in the UK index, thanks to over 1 million Google searches, her 313,000 social media followers and over a million views of her Wikipedia page in 2020. She has recently been praised for her award-winning show, ‘I May Destroy You’, a series themed around consent which fictionalises the story of her own experience of sexual assault.
Jacqueline McKenzie is a British human rights lawyer specialising in migration, asylum, and refugee law. Founder of the Organisation of Migration Advice and Research, Jacqueline works with refugees and women who have been trafficked to the UK. Jacqueline is the fourth most influential woman in the UK according to our index, which may come as no surprise as she won recognition for her work seeking justice for victims of the Windrush scandal that initially gained notoriety in 2018.
Emma Walmsley is fifth in the UK index, being the only woman in the business category thanks to almost 40,000 Google searches and just under 100,000 Wikipedia page views. Emma joined GlaxoSmithKline in 2010, and she took over as CEO of the company in April 2017, making her the first woman to run a major pharmaceutical company.
Managing Director, Linda Campbell at The Body Shop said:
“At The Body Shop, we love being inspired by influential women around the world. It’s so important to celebrate the inspiring, courageous, and confident women from all aspects of life. For me, it’s incredibly touching after the past year to see British Nurse and Former Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing, Donna Kinnair DBE, and Chief Executive of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard, both appear in the top ten under the health category.
“From the youngest woman in our index, Greta Thunberg, aged 18, to the oldest, Queen Elizabeth II, aged 95, all the women included in our research are fantastic role models to young girls and future generations, it’s a privilege to be able to share this moment with them.”
These influential women are also championing self-care and self-love. They realise that taking the time out of a busy schedule is so important when leading a busy life. If you’re feeling inspired to up your own self-care regime, try indulging in a selection of our body butters, body scrubs and facemasks, which are perfect for helping you to relax and unwind after a long day.
You can find out more here: https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/tips-and-advice/influential-women
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