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The first six countries listed below have been partners with the United States in the Group of Seven (G-7) nations since the mid-1970s. Russia joined several years ago, making it the "G-8." China and India are the two newly-emerging superpowers. Six of the nine countries have parliamentary forms of government, in which the legislature chooses the head of government, usually called the prime minister. There are no explicitly separate branches of government, as in the United States. *France and Russia have semi-presidential systems in which the president is the top official, directly elected by the people, but shares power with the premier. **China is a one-party authoritarian state in which formal government titles are sometimes of secondary importance.
Also see: Latin American presidents chronology.
See explanatory notes at end of the table.
| Year |  Britain P.M. |
 France Pres. * |
 Germany (W) Chanc. |
 Italy P.M. |
 Canada P.M. |
 Japan P.M. |
 Russia (USSR) Gen.Sec. / Pres. * |
 China Chm. / de facto / Pres. ** |
 India P.M. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | H. Wilson (1974) |
Giscard d'Est. (1974) |
H. Schmidt (1974) |
Aldo Moro (1974) |
P. Trudeau (1968) |
T. Miki (1974) |
Brezhnev (1964) |
Mao Zedong (1949) |
I. Gandhi (1966) |
| 1975 | H. Wilson | Giscard d'Est. | H. Schmidt | Aldo Moro | P. Trudeau | T. Miki | Brezhnev | Mao Zedong | I. Gandhi |
| 1976 | H. Wilson | Giscard d'Est. | H. Schmidt | Aldo Moro | P. Trudeau | T. Miki | Brezhnev | Mao Zedong | I. Gandhi |
| 1977 | Callaghan | Giscard d'Est. | H. Schmidt | G. Andreotti | P. Trudeau | T. Fukuda | Brezhnev | Hua Guofeng | Morarji Desai |
| 1978 | Callaghan | Giscard d'Est. | H. Schmidt | G. Andreotti | P. Trudeau | T. Fukuda | Brezhnev | Hua Guofeng | Morarji Desai |
| 1979 | M. Thatcher | Giscard d'Est. | H. Schmidt | G. Andreotti | Joe Clark | M. Ohira | Brezhnev | Hua Guofeng | C. C. Singh |
| 1980 | M. Thatcher | Giscard d'Est. | H. Schmidt | F. Cossiga | P. Trudeau | Z. Suzuki | Brezhnev | Hua Guofeng | I. Gandhi |
| 1981 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | H. Schmidt | Arnaldo Forlani | P. Trudeau | Z. Suzuki | Brezhnev | Deng Xiao-ping | I. Gandhi |
| 1982 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | G. Spandolini | P. Trudeau | Z. Suzuki | Brezhnev | Deng Xiao-ping | I. Gandhi |
| 1983 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | A. Fanfani | P. Trudeau | Y. Nakasone | Brezhnev | Deng Xiao-ping | I. Gandhi |
| 1984 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | Bettino Craxi | B. Mulroney | Y. Nakasone | Andropov | Deng Xiao-ping | I. Gandhi |
| 1985 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | Bettino Craxi | B. Mulroney | Y. Nakasone | M. Gorbachev | Deng Xiao-ping | R. Gandhi |
| 1986 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | Bettino Craxi | B. Mulroney | Y. Nakasone | M. Gorbachev | Deng Xiao-ping | R. Gandhi |
| 1987 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | Andr./Fanf./Goria | B. Mulroney | Y. Nakasone | M. Gorbachev | Deng Xiao-ping | R. Gandhi |
| 1988 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | Ciriaco de Mita | B. Mulroney | N. Takeshita | M. Gorbachev | Deng Xiao-ping | R. Gandhi |
| 1989 | M. Thatcher | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | G. Andreotti | B. Mulroney | S. Uno | M. Gorbachev | Deng Xiao-ping | R. Gandhi |
| 1990 | John Major | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | G. Andreotti | B. Mulroney | T. Kaifu | M. Gorbachev | Deng Xiao-ping | V. P. Singh |
| 1991 | John Major | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | G. Andreotti | B. Mulroney | T. Kaifu | M. Gorbachev | Deng Xiao-ping | Ch. Shekhar |
| 1992 | John Major | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | G. Amato | B. Mulroney | K. Miyazawa | Boris Yeltsin | Deng Xiao-ping | P. J. Rao |
| 1993 | John Major | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | C. Azeglio C. | B. Mulroney | K. Miyazawa | Boris Yeltsin | Jiang Zemin | P. J. Rao |
| 1994 | John Major | F. Mitterrand | Helmut Kohl | S. Berlusconi | J. Chretien | T. Murayama | Boris Yeltsin | Jiang Zemin | P. J. Rao |
| 1995 | John Major | J. Chirac | Helmut Kohl | Lamberto Dini | J. Chretien | Hashimoto | Boris Yeltsin | Jiang Zemin | P. J. Rao |
| 1996 | John Major | J. Chirac | Helmut Kohl | Romano Prodi | J. Chretien | Hashimoto | Boris Yeltsin | Jiang Zemin | H.D.D. Gowda |
| 1997 | John Major | J. Chirac | Helmut Kohl | Romano Prodi | J. Chretien | Hashimoto | Boris Yeltsin | Jiang Zemin | I. K. Gujral |
| 1998 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | M. D'Alema | J. Chretien | Obuchi | Boris Yeltsin | Jiang Zemin | A.B. Vajpayee |
| 1999 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | M. D'Alema | J. Chretien | Obuchi | Boris Yeltsin | Jiang Zemin | A.B. Vajpayee |
| 2000 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | M. D'Alema | J. Chretien | Y. Mori | V. Putin | Jiang Zemin | A.B. Vajpayee |
| 2001 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | S. Berlusconi | J. Chretien | J. Koizumi | V. Putin | Jiang Zemin | A.B. Vajpayee |
| 2002 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | S. Berlusconi | J. Chretien | J. Koizumi | V. Putin | Jiang Zemin | A.B. Vajpayee |
| 2003 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | S. Berlusconi | J. Chretien | J. Koizumi | V. Putin | Jiang Zemin | A.B. Vajpayee |
| 2004 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | S. Berlusconi | Paul Martin | J. Koizumi | V. Putin | Hu Jintao | M. Singh |
| 2005 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | G. Schroeder | S. Berlusconi | Paul Martin | J. Koizumi | V. Putin | Hu Jintao | M. Singh |
| 2006 | Tony Blair | J. Chirac | Angela Merkel | Romano Prodi | S. Harper | J. Koizumi | V. Putin | Hu Jintao | M. Singh |
| 2007 | G. Brown | N. Sarkozy | Angela Merkel | Romano Prodi | S. Harper | Shinzo Abe | V. Putin | Hu Jintao | M. Singh |
| 2008 | G. Brown | N. Sarkozy | Angela Merkel | Romano Prodi | S. Harper | Yasuo Fukuda | D. Medvedev | Hu Jintao | M. Singh |
| 2009 | G. Brown | N. Sarkozy | Angela Merkel | Romano Prodi | S. Harper | Aso / Hatoyama | D. Medvedev | Hu Jintao | M. Singh |
| 2010 | Brown / Cameron | N. Sarkozy | Angela Merkel | Romano Prodi | S. Harper | Y. Hatoyama | D. Medvedev | Hu Jintao | M. Singh |
| Year | Britain | France | Germany | Italy | Canada | Japan | Russia | China | India |
| KEY: | . | Communist | Left wing | Moderate left wing | Centrist, undefined, or switched | Moderate right wing | Right wing | Fascist | . |
| NOTE: | In general, names listed for each year pertain to whoever was serving at mid-year. Ideological orientation is based on the leader's party as well as his or her government's actual policy direction. The adjective "moderate" is by international standards. For example, Deng Xiao-ping pushed for liberal reforms in China's economy, but he maintained an iron grip on political power, so it would be difficult to label him a "moderate" leftist in the same category as Tony Blair. Information is subject to correction; in case of doubt, ideology has been left undefined (indicated by gray). | ||||||||
SOURCES: The Facts On File World Political Almanac, 3rd ed. (1995); The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2004, Wikipedia, news reports