Vladimir Putin named most influential figure in the world for 2015 by Time 100 readers' poll

International vote saw Russian President again topping a power list

(GETTY IMAGES)

Vladimir Putin has been named the most influential person in the world ahead of Barack Obama, the Pope and the Dalai Lama, according to Time magazine.

Voting by Time readers for the 2015 title closed on 10 April, with the Russian President taking 6.95 per cent of the vote from around the world.

Pop stars featured prominently among the top 10 this year, with second place claimed by the rapper CL from South Korean all-female group 2NE1.

It was hailed by the state-owned Russian news agency Sputnik News as victory “once again” for Mr Putin, who was named the world’s most powerful person for the second year running by Forbes in November 2014.

The Russian president was also Time’s Person of the Year in 2007, and The Times’ International Person of the Year for 2013.

The Time 100 readers’ poll results were announced ahead of the official annual Time 100 list. Selected by the magazine’s editors instead of by public vote, it will be revealed on 16 April.

Entertainers can be expected to feature less prominently than they do among the readers’ winners. The top five from the poll included Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Taylor Swift with 2.6 per cent, 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent of the vote respectively.

According to Time, the only non-entertainers to make the top 10 besides Mr Putin were the Dalai Lama (1.7 per cent), Malala Yousafzai (1.6 per cent) and Pope Francis. (1.5 per cent).

Barack and Michelle Obama took 1.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent of the votes respectively.

Time said the majority of votes (57.4 per cent) came from within the US. The rest were spread relatively broadly around the world, with Canada and the UK second and third for voters with 5.54 per cent and 4/55 per cent respectively.