Current Dictators & Authoritarian Leaders
A continuously updated directory of the world's current dictators and authoritarian-leaning leaders, with backgrounds, timelines and sources.
The dictator list
26 entries
Dictator
New
Mojtaba Khamenei
Iran
Supreme Leader since March 2026
Dictator
New
Delcy Rodríguez
Venezuela
Interim president since January 2026
Dictator
15 yrs
Kim Jong Un
North Korea
Supreme Leader since 2011
Dictator
26 yrs
Vladimir Putin
Russia
President since 1999/2000
Dictator
44 yrs
Paul Biya
Cameroon
President since 1982
Dictator
32 yrs
Alexander Lukashenko
Belarus
President since 1994
Dictator
47 yrs
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Equatorial Guinea
President since 1979
Dictator
14 yrs
Xi Jinping
China
General Secretary since 2012
Dictator
19 yrs
Daniel Ortega
Nicaragua
President since 2007 (also 1985–90)
Dictator
33 yrs
Isaias Afwerki
Eritrea
President since 1993
Dictator
40 yrs
Yoweri Museveni
Uganda
President since 1986
Dictator
32 yrs
Emomali Rahmon
Tajikistan
President since 1994
Dictator
4 yrs
Serdar Berdimuhamedov
Turkmenistan
President since 2022
Dictator
27 yrs
Ismail Omar Guelleh
Djibouti
President since 1999
Dictator
26 yrs
Paul Kagame
Rwanda
President since 2000
Dictator
29 yrs
Denis Sassou Nguesso
Republic of the Congo
President since 1997 (also 1979–92)
Dictator
23 yrs
Ilham Aliyev
Azerbaijan
President since 2003
Dictator
5 yrs
Min Aung Hlaing
Myanmar
Junta leader since 2021 coup
Dictator
40 yrs
King Mswati III
Eswatini
Monarch since 1986
Dictator
9 yrs
Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia
De facto ruler since 2017
Dictator
9 yrs
Emmerson Mnangagwa
Zimbabwe
President since 2017
Dictator
6 yrs
Évariste Ndayishimiye
Burundi
President since 2020
Dictator
10 yrs
Faustin-Archange Touadéra
Central African Republic
President since 2016
Dictator
59 yrs
Hassanal Bolkiah
Brunei
Sultan since 1967
Dictator
5 yrs
Hibatullah Akhundzada
Afghanistan
Taliban supreme leader, Afghanistan's ruler since 2021
Dictator
2 yrs
Tô Lâm
Vietnam
General Secretary & State President since 2024