Jennifer Lawrence tops Forbes highest-paid actresses list for a second year running

Ten highest-paid actresses earned $205m between them in a year

(AFP/Getty Images)

Jennifer Lawrence has been announced as the highest paid actress of 2016 by Forbes after earning a cool $46 million (£34.8m).

Lawrence is the highest paid actress on the list, and the youngest, for the second year in a row.

However, the 26-year-old’s total was almost half of the $80m (£60.6m) Robert Downey Jr, the highest paid actor of 2015, reportedly earned last year.

Lawrence’s earnings were down by 11 per cent compared to 2015, when her earnings for the year were estimated to be $52m (£40m). Meanwhile, Melissa McCarthy’s earnings are up by $10m between June 2015 and June 2016 because of her role in Ghostbusters, according to Forbes.

Jennifer Aniston was up one place on the list in fourth place, earning an estimated $21m (£16m), a 27 per cent increase on 2015’s $16.5m (£12.5m). Endorsements also proved to be a major factor in increased earning potentials, with Aniston being identified as a “standout” for her advertisements with Emirates airlines, Smartwater, Aveeno and Living Proof.

Mila Kunis shot up from 16th place to ninth with estimated earnings of $11m (£8.3m) up 69 per cent on 2015’s $65m (£49.2m) estimate.

Arriving in tenth place was Deepika Padukone, who made the list for the first time.

Forbes calculates earnings based on interviews with agents, managers, lawyers and from data collected from sites such as Nielsen, Box Office Mojo and IMDB.

Lawrence has been vocal about Hollywood’s gender pay gap after the Sony hack that revealed she was paid significantly less than her male co-stars for the film American Hustle.