Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the highest paid world leader Reuters

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is the highest annual salary earner among country leaders, surpassing his peers by a huge margin.

At present, the son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, earns about $1.7m (£1.14m, €1.56m) per year, equivalent to the combined annual pay of the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.

Lee, whose salary was cut by 28% following public unhappiness, had been earning more than $2.8m from 2008 to 2012.

The second on the list is US President Barack Obama, who earns $400,000 per year, followed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel with annual salaries of $260,000 and $234,400, respectively.

Prime Minister David Cameron's annual salary is $214,800, above $202,700 earned by Japan's Shinzo Abe.

India's Narendra Modi and China's Xi Jinping earn the least among prominent world leaders, with salaries below $50,000 per year.

A Statista chart detailing pay levels of world leaders is given below.

Infographic: Pay Levels Of World Leaders In Perspective | Statista

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