List of G7 leaders facts for kids
The Group of Seven, or G7, is like a club for some of the world's biggest and most powerful democratic countries. These countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Their top leaders, like presidents and prime ministers, meet once a year at a special event called a summit.
Since 1977, the European Union (EU), which is a group of many European countries working together, also joins the G7 meetings. The EU is represented by its main leaders, the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council.
Each year, one of the G7 countries takes a turn being the "host." This means they get to set the main topics for the meeting and welcome everyone. The leader who has been in office the longest among the G7 countries is known as the "Senior G7 leader." Right now, that's Justin Trudeau from Canada, since December 2021.
The G7 hasn't always had seven members. It started in 1975 as the Group of Six, or G6. All the current members were part of it, except for Canada. In 1976, Pierre Trudeau, who was Canada's Prime Minister at the time, led Canada to join the group, making it the G7. Later, in 1997, Boris Yeltsin, Russia's President, brought Russia into the group, and it became the Group of Eight, or G8. However, in March 2014, Russia was suspended from the group after some events in Crimea, and it went back to being called the G7.
Senior G7 Leaders Over Time
This section shows a timeline of who has been the "Senior G7 leader" since the group started as the G6.
| Entered office as Head of State or Government |
Began time as senior G8 leader |
Ended time as senior G8 leader |
Term Length |
Leader | Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 October 1964 | 15 November 1975 | 5 April 1976 | 142 days | Harold Wilson |  Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
| 16 May 1974 | 5 April 1976 | 27 June 1976 | 83 days | Helmut Schmidt |  Chancellor of West Germany |
| 20 April 1968 | 27 June 1976 | 4 June 1979 | 2 years, 342 days | Pierre Trudeau |  Prime Minister of Canada |
| 16 May 1974 | 4 June 1979 | 3 March 1980 | 273 days | Helmut Schmidt | Chancellor of West Germany |
| 20 April 1968 | 3 March 1980 | 30 June 1984 | 4 years, 119 days | Pierre Trudeau | Prime Minister of Canada |
| 4 May 1979 | 30 June 1984 | 28 November 1990 | 6 years, 151 days | Margaret Thatcher | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
| 10 May 1981 | 28 November 1990 | 17 May 1995 | 4 years, 170 days | François Mitterrand |  President of France |
| 1 October 1982 | 17 May 1995 | 27 October 1998 | 3 years, 163 days | Helmut Kohl | Chancellor of Germany |
| 10 July 1991 | 27 October 1998 | 31 December 1999 | 1 year, 65 days | Boris Yeltsin |  President of Russia |
| 20 January 1993 | 31 December 1999 | 20 January 2001 | 1 year, 20 days | Bill Clinton |  President of the United States |
| 4 November 1993 | 20 January 2001 | 12 December 2003 | 2 years, 326 days | Jean Chrétien | Prime Minister of Canada |
| 17 May 1995 | 12 December 2003 | 16 May 2007 | 3 years, 155 days | Jacques Chirac | President of France |
| 2 May 1997 | 16 May 2007 | 27 June 2007 | 42 days | Tony Blair | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
| 7 May 2000 | 27 June 2007 | 7 May 2008 | 315 days | Vladimir Putin | President of Russia |
| 20 January 2001 | 7 May 2008 | 20 January 2009 | 258 days | George W. Bush | President of the United States |
| 10 May 1994 | 20 January 2009 | 16 November 2011 | 2 years, 300 days | Silvio Berlusconi |  Prime Minister of Italy |
| 22 November 2005 | 16 November 2011 | 7 May 2012 | 173 days | Angela Merkel | Chancellor of Germany |
| 7 May 2000 | 7 May 2012 | 24 March 2014 | 1 year, 321 days | Vladimir Putin | President of Russia |
| 22 November 2005 | 24 March 2014 | 8 December 2021 | 7 years, 259 days | Angela Merkel | Chancellor of Germany |
| 4 November 2015 | 8 December 2021 | Incumbent | 3 years, 216 days | Justin Trudeau | Prime Minister of Canada |
Current Seniority of G7 Leaders
This table shows how long the current G7 leaders have been in their roles.
| Leader | Office | In Office Since | Term Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Trudeau | Prime Minister of Canada |
4 November 2015 | 9 years, 250 days |
| Emmanuel Macron | President of France |
14 May 2017 | 8 years, 59 days |
| Joe Biden | President of the United States |
20 January 2021 | 4 years, 173 days |
| Fumio Kishida |  Prime Minister of Japan |
4 October 2021 | 3 years, 281 days |
| Olaf Scholz | Chancellor of Germany |
8 December 2021 | 3 years, 216 days |
| Giorgia Meloni | Prime Minister of Italy |
22 October 2022 | 2 years, 263 days |
| Rishi Sunak | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
25 October 2022 | 2 years, 260 days |
Interesting Facts About G7 Leaders
- The person who has been the Senior G7 leader for the longest time is Angela Merkel, the former Chancellor of Germany. She held this role for 7 years and 259 days!
- The shortest time someone has been the Senior G7 leader was 42 days. This was Tony Blair, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in 2007.
- Even though Japan was one of the first countries in the G6 (which became the G7), no Japanese Prime Minister has ever been the Senior G7 Leader.
- Except for Harold Wilson, the very first Senior G7 Leader, no past Senior G7 Leader has held the position for less than eight years.
- Silvio Berlusconi, a former Prime Minister of Italy, holds the record for hosting the G8 Summit the most times, with Italy hosting it three times.
