Abstract The variability of the Hadley circulation strength (HCS), crucial to tropical climate variability, is attributed to both oceanic and atmospheric forcings. El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and variations in the extratropical upper tropospheric eddies are known drivers of the interannual HCS variability. However, the relative contributions of these oceanic and atmospheric forcings to the hemispheric HCS variability are not well understood. In particular, how much anomalous wind stress-driven ocean dynamics, including ENSO, impact HCS variability remains an open question. To address these gaps, we investigate the drivers of the interannual HCS variability using global coupled model experiments that include or exclude anomalous wind stress-driven ocean circulation variability. We find that the anomalous wind stress-driven ocean circulation variability significantly amplifies HCS variability in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). ENSO is the leading modulator of the SH HCS variability, which offers the potential to improve the predictability of HC-related hydrological consequences. On the other hand, the Northern Hemisphere (NH) HCS variability is predominantly influenced by the eddy-driven internal atmospheric variability with little role for ocean dynamics.We hypothesize that the large eddy variability in the NH and concentrated ENSO-associated heating and precipitation in the SH lead to the hemisphere-dependent differences in the interannual HCS variability.