Paris, France: US President-elect Donald Trump has topped a 2016 AFP poll to choose the most influential person of the year, just ahead of Russian and Turkish leaders Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

AFP journalists around the world, working in all languages and sections of the agency (text, photo, video) voted from a selection of key players that have driven the news in 2016.

Reflecting a year where people have rejected traditional elites in democratic countries, Trump stood ahead of two politicians who have defied the traditional powers in the West, Putin and Erdogan.

AFP journalists chose from a list of 30 people selected by chief editors from various sections of the agency.

Here are the top 10 picked by the nearly 300 journalists that took part in the survey.

1. Donald Trump
2. Vladimir Putin
3. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
4. Hillary Clinton
5. Nigel Farage
6. Bashar al-Assad
7. Barack Obama
8. Pope Francis
9. Bob Dylan
10. Michelle Obama