Lists of state leaders by age
This article contains various lists of state leaders organized by age, defined as heads of state and/or heads of government.
Since 1900, the youngest serving state leader has been 192-day-old Fuad II, King of Egypt (left), while the oldest has been 96-year-old Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms (right).
Oldest serving state leaders
Top ten currently serving
Paul Biya, currently the oldest serving state leader
People currently serving as head of state and/or head of government, a party leader of a one-party state, or a representative of a head of state.
| Rank | Name | Position | Assumed office | Born | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Biya | President of Cameroon | 1982[1] | 13 February 1933 | 90 years, 255 days |
| 2 | Mahmoud Abbas | President of the Palestinian National Authority, President of the State of Palestine | 2005 | 15 November 1935 | 87 years, 345 days |
| 3 | Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud | King of Saudi Arabia | 2015[2] | 31 December 1935 | 87 years, 299 days |
| 4 | Francis | Pope of the Holy See, Sovereign of the Vatican City State | 2013 | 17 December 1936 | 86 years, 313 days |
| 5 | Harald V | King of Norway[3] | 1991 | 21 February 1937 | 86 years, 247 days |
| 6 | Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah | Emir of Kuwait | 2020 | 25 June 1937 | 86 years, 123 days |
| 7 | Ali Khamenei | Supreme Leader of Iran | 1989[4] | 19 April 1939 | 84 years, 190 days |
| 8 | Margrethe II | Queen of Denmark[5] | 1972 | 16 April 1940 | 83 years, 193 days |
| 9 | Michael D. Higgins | President of Ireland | 2011 | 18 April 1941 | 82 years, 191 days |
| 10 | Sergio Mattarella | President of Italy | 2015 | 23 July 1941 | 82 years, 95 days |
Top ten of all time
Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, the oldest serving state leader of all time whose age is fully verifiable.
| Rank | Name | Position | Last year in office (reason term ended) |
Age at end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giovanni Paolo Lascaris | Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller | 1657 (death) | 97 years, 47 days |
| 2 | Abdul Momin | Sultan of Brunei | 1885 (death) | 97 years, 8 days |
| 3 | Elizabeth II | Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms[6] | 2022 (death) | 96 years, 140 days |
| 4 | Hastings Banda | President of Malawi | 1994 (presidency for life revoked, defeated in re-election) | 96 years, 98 days |
| President of the Malawi Congress Party | ||||
| 5 | Prem Tinsulanonda | Regent of Thailand | 2016 (term ended) | 96 years, 97 days |
| 6 | George Tupou I | King of Tonga | 1893 (death) | 95 years, 76 days |
| 7 | Mahathir Mohamad | Prime Minister of Malaysia | 2020 (resigned) | 94 years, 235 days |
| 8 | Nicolò da Ponte | Doge of Venice | 1585 (death) | 94 years, 196 days |
| 9 | Malietoa Tanumafili II | O le Ao o le Malo of Samoa | 2007 (death) | 94 years, 127 days |
| 10 | Robert Mugabe | President of Zimbabwe | 2017 (resigned) | 93 years, 273 days |
| First Secretary of ZANU–PF |
Youngest serving state leaders
Top ten currently serving
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Ibrahim Traoré, the youngest serving state leader
| Rank | Name | Position | Assumed office | Born | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ibrahim Traoré | President of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration of Burkina Faso | 2022 | 1988[7] | 34 years, 299 days to 35 years, 298 days |
| Interim President of Burkina Faso | 2022 | ||||
| 2 | Gaetano Troina | Captain Regent of San Marino | 2023 | 14 February 1987 | 36 years, 254 days |
| 3 | Jakov Milatović | President of Montenegro | 2023 | 7 December 1986 | 36 years, 323 days |
| 4 | Gabriel Boric | President of Chile | 2022 | 11 February 1986 | 37 years, 257 days |
| 5 | Dritan Abazović | Prime Minister of Montenegro | 2022 | 25 December 1985 | 37 years, 305 days |
| 6 | Mohammed bin Salman | Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia | 2022 | 31 August 1985 | 38 years, 56 days |
| 7 | Mahamat Déby | Transitional President of Chad[8] | 2022 | 1 January 1984 | 39 years, 298 days |
| 8 | Kim Jong Un | Supreme Leader of North Korea[9] | 2011 | 8 January 1983[10] | 40 years, 291 days[10] |
| 8–9 | Assimi Goïta | Interim President of Mali[11] | 2021 | 1983 | 39 years, 299 days to 40 years, 298 days |
| 10 | Irakli Garibashvili | Prime Minister of Georgia[12] | 2021 | 28 June 1982 | 41 years, 120 days |
Top ten since 1905
Mswati III, who at the start of his reign, was one of the youngest state leaders since 1905
Currently in office
| Rank | Name | Position | Assumed office | Age when assuming office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fuad II | King of Egypt | 1952 | 192 days |
| 2 | Puyi | Emperor of China | 1908 | 2 years, 299 days |
| 3 | Gyanendra | King of Nepal | 1950[13] | 3 years, 123 days |
| 4 | Faisal II | King of Iraq | 1939 | 3 years, 337 days |
| 5 | Simeon II | Tsar of Bulgaria | 1943 | 6 years, 73 days |
| 6 | Jigme Singye Wangchuck | King of Bhutan | 1972 | 16 years, 256 days |
| 7 | Hussein | King of Jordan | 1952 | 16 years, 271 days |
| 8 | Mswati III | King of Eswatini[14] | 1986 | 18 years, 6 days[15] |
| 9 | Bhumibol Adulyadej | King of Thailand | 1946 | 18 years, 186 days |
| 10 | Ntare V | King of Burundi | 1966 | 18 years, 218 days |
Oldest state leaders
The following lists show the oldest people who have served office as state leader (not limited to their age while in office).
Top ten living
Guillermo Rodríguez, the oldest-living state leader
Top ten since 1800
Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum, the longest-lived state leader
| Rank | Name | Position | Born | Death | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum | Prime Minister of Cambodia (1962) | 1905 | 2009 | 103 years, 143 days |
| 2 | Celâl Bayar | Prime Minister of Turkey (1937–1939) | 1883 | 1986 | 103 years, 98 days |
| President of Turkey (1950–1960) | |||||
| 3 | Antoine Pinay | Prime Minister of France (1952–1953) | 1891 | 1994 | 102 years, 348 days |
| 4 | André Prunet-Foch | French Viguier in Andorra (1977–1980) | 1914 | 2017 | 102 years, 211 days |
| 5 | Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni | Prime Minister of Japan (1945) | 1887 | 1990 | 102 years, 48 days |
| 6 | Babiker Awadalla | Prime Minister of Sudan (1969) | 1917 | 2019 | 101 years, 321 days |
| 7 | Willem Drees | Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1948–1958) | 1886 | 1988 | 101 years, 314 days |
| 8 | Đỗ Mười | Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Vietnam (1988–1991) | 1917 | 2018 | 101 years, 241 days |
| General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1991–1997) | |||||
| 9 | Zhang Qun | Premier of the Republic of China (1947–1948) | 1889 | 1990 | 101 years, 219 days |
| 10 | Yasuhiro Nakasone | Prime Minister of Japan (1982–1987) | 1918 | 2019 | 101 years, 186 days |
See also
Notes
- Previously served as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975–1982.
- Served concurrently as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015–2022.
- The Kingdom of Norway includes the dependent territory of Svalbard.
- Previously served as President of Iran from 1981–1989.
- The Kingdom of Denmark includes the autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
- In 1952, Princess Elizabeth acceded as the monarch of seven Commonwealth realms. At the time of her death, she reigned as Queen of 15 sovereign states including the United Kingdom. From 1957–1983, most of her British colonies attained independence, and some joined the other realms in different years; most states ceased to be a realm upon becoming republics.
- Rakotomalala, Omega; Chothia, Farouk (3 October 2022). "Capt Ibrahim Traoré: Burkina Faso's new military ruler". Nairobi: BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- Previously President of the Transitional Military Council of Chad from 2021–2022.
- The term Supreme Leader is used as a description, for the sake of brevity, rather than being an official title of a single office. The actual offices held by Kim Jong Un are: General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, President of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the DPRK.
- Kim's year of birth has been the subject of dispute. North Korean authorities and state-run media have stated Kim's birth date is 8 January 1982, but South Korean intelligence officials believe the actual date is a year later. Until 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department had claimed that his year of birth is 1984.
- Previously Chairman of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People of Mali in 2020 and 2021.
- Previously Prime Minister of Georgia from 2013–2015.
- Gyanendra's first occupation of the throne was in 1950; he was deposed in the 1951 Nepalese revolution.
- The country was called the Kingdom of Swaziland until 19 April 2018.
- Began personal reign after a 3-year regency
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