Angela Merkel tops Forbes Most Powerful Women In The World 2014 list

The German Chancellor has made the list of “extraordinary icons and leaders, groundbreakers and ceiling crashers who command the world stage”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has topped the list nine times (Getty Images)

Angela Merkel has once again topped the Forbes annual rundown of the world’s most powerful women.

The German Chancellor has made the list of “extraordinary icons and leaders, groundbreakers and ceiling crashers who command the world stage” ten times in the past 11 years – nine times of which she has been ranked at No.1.

She is followed by Janet Yellen, the first women ever to hold the position of Federal Reserve chair in the US, and philanthropist Melinda Gates, who raised over $3.4billion in grant commitments to global development since founding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, in 1998.

Former Secretary of State in the US Hilary Clinton appears at No.6 on the list – two places ahead of current American First Lady Michelle Obama, and three in front of Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg.

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey came in at No. 16 ahead of Beyoncé, who appeared at No.17.

“Power is a charged word that covers more than the traditional definition of political and economic might,” Forbes writes in its introduction to the list. This is a good thing, however, as “less than 5% of the top companies have women CEOs. Slightly more than 10% of the 1,645 Forbes World Billionaires 2014 are women. There are 14 incumbent female heads of state.”

“We think differently,” they continue. “In addition to the hammer-and-nail philosophy, we look to leaders whose tools are their impact and influence on the global stage.”

Click through the gallery above to find out who else made the list and see it in full at Forbes here.