Former US president Barack Obama is the most admired man in the United States and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton the most admired woman, according to a poll published Wednesday.

Obama came out on top of the annual Gallup survey for the 10th year in a row while Clinton, who lost last year's presidential election to Donald Trump, was named the most admired woman for the 16th straight year.

Seventeen percent of the Americans polled said Obama was the man they admired most, down from 22 percent last year. Trump was second with 14 percent followed by Pope Francis with three percent.

Nine percent of those polled said Clinton was their most admired woman followed by former US First Lady Michelle Obama with seven percent and talk show host Oprah Winfrey with four percent.

Gallup said the poll of 1,049 adults was conducted between December 4-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Source: AFP