75% of the World’s Heads of State Are On Twitter

Three-quarters of the world’s heads of state have a Twitter presence, according to a new survey from the Digital Policy Council.  Out of 164 countries studied, 123 have a head of state on Twitter – some with a personal Twitter handle, others with an official government one.

This marks a big change since 2011, when only 42% of world leaders were on Twitter, or 69 out of 164. In other words, it’s been a big year for Twitter and political leaders.

 World Leaders on Twitter via Digital Daya

Who is most popular among these leaders? US President Barack Obama leads with 25 million followers; he is followed by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela with 3.5 million followers.

TechCrunch does note that the United Nations recognizes 193 states (not just the 164 in the study); it’s unclear whether the leaders of these 29 countries are on Twitter.