Hillary Clinton has won the popular vote by more than 2.86 million ballots, the final tally in the US presidential election has revealed.

According to the Cook Political Report, the Democrat beat the President-elect by 2,864,974 - more than five times the margin garnered by Al Gore in 2000 when he also lost the Electoral College.

The final count comes after 304 electors voted for Donald Trump on Monday, meaning that although two electors defected, he cleared the 270-vote hurdle and will be sworn in as president next month.

Mr Trump's win ranks 46th out of 58 on the list of Electoral College votes secured by US Presidents since George Washington in 1789. His popular vote tally was more than two percentage points lower than Ms Clinton's, at 46.1 per cent against her 48.2 per cent – or 62.98 million against 65.84 million.

Women go on strike against Donald Trump Show all 7 1 /7 Women go on strike against Donald Trump Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Ms Clinton's tally was just under 72,000 votes shy of Barack Obama's popular vote count in the 2012 election.

Mr Trump won 30 states in the 8 November election, securing 306 of the 538 Electoral College votes – 56.9 per cent of the total.

Only 12 other elections have seen a president receive a lower proportion of Electoral College votes, including George W Bush in 2000 and 2004, and John F Kennedy in 1960.

Confirmation of Mr Trump's victory ended an acrimonious final chapter in an election cycle that saw former president Bill Clinton accuse the director of the FBI, James Comey, of costing his wife the White House, and activists flood the letterboxes of Electoral College members with pleas to abandon the Republican candidate.

Despite the pressure on electors, experts had said a Trump defeat in the Electoral College was extremely unlikely.

Dr Jacob Parakilas, assistant head of the US and Americas Programme at Chatham House, told The Independent: "A lot of this is just a reaction to how outlandish the whole election season has been.

President Obama suggests Hillary Clinton didn't work as hard on campaign trail as he did

"I think there's also a sense that because Trump won with a significant gap between the Electoral College and the popular vote, that underscores calls for the Electoral College to do something different than it normally does.