This is a list of the heads of state and heads of government of the Group of Seven nations at each G6, G7, G8 summit since the organisation's inception in 1975. The Group consists of the 6-7-8 largest industrialized democracies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union is also a member since 1977, represented by the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, which before 2009 was the leader of the state holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, also sometimes coinciding with a G7/8 nation, and is since 2009 a permanent position. The G7 holds an annual summit, which each nation's head of government attends. Each year the heads of government take turns assuming the presidency, whose job it is to set the agenda for and host the annual summit. The leader who has been in office the longest of the seven leaders is considered the Senior G7 leader; currently Justin Trudeau since December 2021.
While the current G7 consists of seven nations, it didn't always. The group was formed as the Group of Six, G6, including all of today's members minus Canada. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada joined in the second year of the group's existence, 1976, forming the Group of Seven, G7. Russia joined the Group of Eight, G8, in 1997, under the leadership of President Boris Yeltsin. Russia was suspended in March 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea, the group being thereafter again referred to as the Group of Seven.[1]
The following is a chronology of senior G7 leaders from the founding of the G6 (a precursor organization to the G8) to the present.
| 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 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 1974 | 5 April 1976 | 27 June 1976 | Chancellor of West Germany | ||||||||
| 20 April 1968 | 27 June 1976 | 4 June 1979 |  Prime Minister of Canada | ||||||||
| 16 May 1974 | 4 June 1979 | 3 March 1980 | Chancellor of West Germany | ||||||||
| 20 April 1968 | 3 March 1980 | 30 June 1984 | Prime Minister of Canada | ||||||||
| 4 May 1979 | 30 June 1984 | 28 November 1990 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | ||||||||
| 10 May 1981 | 28 November 1990 | 17 May 1995 |  President of France | ||||||||
| 1 October 1982 | 17 May 1995 | 27 October 1998 | Chancellor of Germany | ||||||||
| 10 July 1991 | 27 October 1998 | 31 December 1999 |  President of Russia | ||||||||
| 20 January 1993 | 31 December 1999 | 20 January 2001 |  President of the United States | ||||||||
| 4 November 1993 | 20 January 2001 | 12 December 2003 | Prime Minister of Canada | ||||||||
| 17 May 1995 | 12 December 2003 | 16 May 2007 | President of France | ||||||||
| 2 May 1997 | 16 May 2007 | 27 June 2007 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | ||||||||
| 7 May 2000 | 27 June 2007 | 7 May 2008 | |||||||||
| 20 January 2001 | 7 May 2008 | 20 January 2009 | President of the United States | ||||||||
| 10 May 1994 | 20 January 2009 | 16 November 2011 |  Prime Minister of Italy | ||||||||
| 22 November 2005 | 16 November 2011 | 7 May 2012 | Chancellor of Germany | ||||||||
| 7 May 2000 | 7 May 2012 | 24 March 2014 | |||||||||
| 22 November 2005 | 24 March 2014 | 8 December 2021 | Chancellor of Germany | ||||||||
| 4 November 2015 | 8 December 2021 | Incumbent |
| Leader | Office | In Office Since | Term Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 November 2015 | ||||
| 14 May 2017 | ||||
| 20 January 2021 | ||||
| 20 January 2025 | --> | |||
| 8 December 2021 | ||||
| 22 October 2022 | ||||
| 5 July 2024 | ||||
| 1 October 2024 |
Japan
United Kingdom
Germany