Hillary Clinton fell a shocking 63 spots to 65 on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful women just a year after her US presidential election loss to Donald Trump.

Newcomer to the list UK Prime Minister Theresa May took Clinton’s spot at No 2 on the list, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained at No 1 on the Forbes list for another year.

Clinton's election loss in 2016 left the United States one of the world's few leading democracies to yet see a female leader.

Hillary Clinton fell a shocking 63 spots to 65 on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful women after her 2016 presidential loss to Donald Trump

The former First Lady and former Secretary of State may sit 65 on the world's most powerful women list, but on a list of solely women in politics, Clinton is No 20.

Clinton has moved to the sidelines of politics since her election loss and is now building her organization, Onward Together, which works to recruit future political candidates.

Meanwhile, Merkel and May sit atop both the overall and politics-focused lists of the world's most powerful women.

Merkel, who has been in office since 2005, won a fiercely contested election this year in which she held off the growing far-right influence of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

May, the conservative Prime Minister of the UK, moved into her role after Britons voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, prompting then-Prime Minister David Cameron to resign.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained at No 1 on the Forbes list of powerful women for another year

Newcomer to the list UK Prime Minister Theresa May took Clinton’s spot at No 2 on the list of powerful women

She has spent the last year working to bring the factious coalition government together and has to carry the UK through Brexit by 2019.

Rounding out the top five on the list of the world's most powerful women are Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, and Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors.

Gates' foundation has donated more than $3 billion towards providing people with polio vaccinations around the world.

Through her work with the foundation, Gates has focused on working to make gender equality a path to meaningful change in the world.

Along with being the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, Sandberg is the founder of Leanin.org, which works to empower women to achieve their ambitions.

Earlier this year, Lean In launched the campaign #20PercentCounts, representing the 20 percent less that women make compared with men.

Rounding out the top four on the list of the world's most powerful women are Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO

Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors, is fifth on the list of the world's most powerful women

GM boss Barra is the first female CEO of a major global automaker and has recently focused on improving the car company's profitability.

Other political leaders on the list include Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, at No 19, and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, at No 43.

Also on the list are Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, and Federica Mogherini, the Foreign Policy Chief of the European Union.

The world's youngest leader, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arder, 37, landed on the list at No 38.

No 78, Estonia President Kersti Kaljulaid has helped launch a digital revolution in her country after being elected last year.

THE 20 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN POLITICS 1. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany 2. Theresa May, Prime Minister of the UK 3. Tsa Ing-Wen, President of Taiwan 4. Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile 5. Federica Mogherini, Foreign Policy Chief, European Union 6. Ivanka Trump, Senior Advisor in The White House 7. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Justices 8. Queen Elizabeth II 9. Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Prime Minister, Bangladesh 10. Beata Maria Szydlo, Prime Minister of Poland 11. Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor, Myanmar 12. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation & Development, UAE 13. Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand 14. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of Croatia 15. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, UK 16. Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to United Nations 17. Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway 18. Elvira Nabiullina, Governor, Bank of Russia 19. Liyuan Peng, First Lady of China 20. Hillary Clinton, Former US Presidential Candidate Advertisement