Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie have been named the world's most admired people in a YouGov survey.

Philanthropist Gates and humanitarian Jolie have topped the poll in each of the annual surveys, since the study introduced separate rankings for the sexes in 2015.

Jackie Chan moves ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and ranked 3rd most admired man in the world.

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama top the lists.

For its latest survey, the market researcher interviewed over 37,000 people from 35 countries, with the final figures calculated by the percentage share of admiration each person received overall.