The 56th edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the snowy Swiss town of Davos really does have the eyes of the world on it. 

With geopolitical tensions escalating, whether that be over Greenland, Iran, Venezuela or Ukraine, many people see Davos 2026 as a potentially big moment in where the world may be heading.

More than 60 world leaders and 3,000 delegates from 130 countries will make their way to Davos across the week, as well as 850 CEOs and chairpersons. 

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will attend the meeting and visit Switzerland from Monday January 19 to Thursday 22, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced last week. He will make a special address on Tuesday morning. 

US President Donald Trump will also be in attendance, just days after he threatened tariffs on several European countries over their support for Greenland. 

Trump is leading a large US delegation in 2026, which includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. 

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be in Davos, with some of his delegation expected to hold sideline talks with the US during their visit later this week. 

Whilst he is not on the official list for those in attendance this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will also travel to Davos and hold meetings with members of the US delegation, per the Reuters news agency.

European leaders are, as ever, well represented at Davos with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Greece's Kyriakos Mitsotakis all due at the forum. 

Qatari PM Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Argentina's Javier Milei, Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are some of the other world leaders set to attend. 

But it's not just about the world leaders… 

Aside from the world leaders, heads of key organisations from across the world are also expected to be in attendance. 

They include World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank President Ajay Banga and International Monetary Fund MD Kristalina Georgieva.

From the tech world, Davos will host Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Meta President Dina Powell McCormick and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. 

Who will not be in attendance? 

Perhaps one of the more interesting stories is who will not be in attendance at Davos this year – and the list grew longer on Monday. 

In the morning, the WEF announced that the Iranian Government would not be represented at the event. 

The WEF statement said: "The Iranian Foreign Minister will not be attending Davos. Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year."

Then at lunchtime, the WEF announced that Danish officials will skip Davos amid an intensifying dispute over Greenland. "We can confirm that the Danish government will not be represented in Davos this week," the WEF said in a statement.

Elsewhere, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez canceled his scheduled visit to Davos on Monday following a high-speed train crash in southern Spain on Sunday that killed at least 39 people.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro was also due at the forum, but he also canceled his visit – while Italy's Giorgia Meloni and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are also not expected to attend.