Lists of state leaders by age

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Fuad II of Egypt 1952.jpg Dr HK Banda, first president of Malawi.jpg
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 Hastings Banda, President of Malawi (right).

This article contains various lists of state leaders organized by age, defined as heads of state and/or heads of government.

10 oldest serving state leaders[edit]

Elizabeth II, currently the oldest serving state leader

People currently serving as head of state and/or head of government, a party secretary of a one-party state, or a representative of a head of state.

Rank Name Born Age Position Assumed office
1 Elizabeth II (1926-04-21)21 April 1926 94 years, 17 days Queen of the United Kingdom[1] 1952
2 Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (1929-06-16)16 June 1929 90 years, 327 days Emir of Kuwait 2006
3 Raúl Castro (1931-06-03)3 June 1931 88 years, 340 days First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba 2011[2]
4 Sir Colville Young (1932-11-20)20 November 1932 87 years, 170 days Governor-General of Belize 1993
5 Paul Biya (1933-02-13)13 February 1933 87 years, 85 days President of Cameroon 1982[3]
6 Michel Aoun (1935-02-18)18 February 1935 85 years, 80 days President of Lebanon 2016[4]
7 Mahmoud Abbas (1935-11-15)15 November 1935 84 years, 175 days President of the Palestinian National Authority,
President of the State of Palestine		 2005
8 Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa (1935-11-24)24 November 1935 84 years, 166 days Prime Minister of Bahrain 1971
9 Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1935-12-31)31 December 1935 84 years, 129 days King of Saudi Arabia,
Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia[5]		 2015
10 Francis (1936-12-17)17 December 1936 83 years, 143 days Pope of the Holy See,
Sovereign of the Vatican City State		 2013

10 oldest ever serving state leaders[edit]

Rank Name Position Last year in office
(reason term ended) 		Age at end
1–3 Giovanni Paolo Lascaris Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller 1657 (death) 97 years, 47 days
Abdul Momin Sultan of Brunei 1885 (death) ≥97 years[6]
Enrico Dandolo Doge of Venice 1205 (death) c. 97–98 years[7]
4 Hastings Banda President of Malawi 1994 (presidency for life revoked, lost reelection) 96 years, 98 days
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 Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom[1] Incumbent 94 years, 17 days

Longest-lived state leaders[edit]

The following lists are the top ten all-time state leaders and the top ten living.

Top ten since 1800[edit]

Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum, the longest-lived state leader
Main article: List of longest-living state leaders
Rank Name Position Birth 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, 212 days
5 Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni Prime Minister of Japan (1945) 1887 1990 102 years, 48 days
6 Ek Yi Oun Prime Minister of Cambodia (1958) 1910 2013 102 years, 1 day to 103 years, 364 days[8]
7 Babiker Awadalla Prime Minister of Sudan (1969) 1917 2019 101 years, 321 days
8 Willem Drees Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1948–1958) 1886 1988 101 years, 314 days
9 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)
10 Zhang Qun Premier of the Republic of China (1947–1948) 1889 1990 101 years, 219 days

Top ten living[edit]

Mustafa Ben Halim, the second-oldest-living state leader
Main article: List of oldest living state leaders
Rank Name Position Birth Age
1 Hyun Soong-jong Prime Minister of South Korea (1992–1993) (1919-01-26)26 January 1919 101 years, 103 days
2 Mustafa Ben Halim Prime Minister of Libya (1954–1957) (1921-01-29)29 January 1921 99 years, 100 days
3 Francisco Morales Bermúdez Prime Minister of Peru (1975) (1921-10-04)4 October 1921 98 years, 217 days
President of Peru (1975–1980)
4 Luis Echeverría President of Mexico (1970–1976) (1922-01-17)17 January 1922 98 years, 112 days
5 Miloš Jakeš General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (1987–1989) (1922-08-12)12 August 1922 97 years, 270 days
6 Francesc Badia Batalla Episcopal Veguer in Andorra (1972–1993) (1923-01-10)10 January 1923 97 years, 119 days
7 Lee Teng-hui President of the Republic of China (1988–2000) (1923-01-15)15 January 1923 97 years, 114 days
8 Khamtai Siphandon Prime Minister of Laos (1991–1998) (1924-02-08)8 February 1924 96 years, 90 days
Chairman of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (1992–2006)
President of Laos (1998–2006)
9 Tomiichi Murayama Prime Minister of Japan (1994–1996) (1924-03-03)3 March 1924 96 years, 66 days
10 Abderrahmane Youssoufi Prime Minister of Morocco (1998–2002) (1924-03-08)8 March 1924 96 years, 61 days

10 youngest serving state leaders[edit]

Sebastian Kurz, the youngest serving state leader
Rank Name Position Birth Age
1 Sebastian Kurz Chancellor of Austria (since 2020)[9] 27 August 1986 33 years, 255 days
2 Sanna Marin Prime Minister of Finland (since 2019) 16 November 1985 34 years, 174 days
3 Kim Jong-un Supreme Leader of North Korea[10] (since 2011) 8 January 1983 37 years, 121 days
4 Nayib Bukele President of El Salvador (since 2019) 24 July 1981 38 years, 289 days
5 Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister of New Zealand (since 2017) 26 July 1980 39 years, 287 days
6 Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Emir of Qatar (since 2013) 3 June 1980 39 years, 340 days
7 Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck King of Bhutan (since 2006) 21 February 1980 40 years, 77 days
8 Carlos Alvarado Quesada President of Costa Rica (since 2018) 14 January 1980 40 years, 115 days
9 Xavier Espot Zamora Head of Government of Andorra (since 2019) 30 October 1979 40 years, 191 days
10 Leo Varadkar Taoiseach of Ireland (since 2017) 18 January 1979 41 years, 111 days

10 youngest state leaders (since 1945)[edit]

Main article: List of youngest state leaders since 1900

Leaders still serving are highlighted in italicized bold.

Rank Name Position Age (when they took office)
1 Fuad II King of Egypt 192 days
2 Gyanendra King of Nepal 3 years, 123 days
3 Faisal II King of Iraq 3 years, 337 days
4 Hussein King of Jordan 16 years, 271 days
5 Jigme Singye Wangchuck King of Bhutan 16 years, 256 days
6 Mswati III [11] King of Eswatini 18 years, 6 days
7 Bhumibol Adulyadej King of Thailand 18 years, 186 days
8 Ntare V King of Burundi 18 years, 218 days
9 Jean-Claude Duvalier President of Haiti 19 years, 293 days
10 Baudouin King of Belgium 20 years, 313 days

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b In 1952, Princess Elizabeth acceded as the monarch of seven Commonwealth realms. She currently reigns as Queen of 16 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.
  2. ^ Previously served as Acting President and Acting Prime Minister of Cuba from 2006–2008, then as President and Prime Minister of Cuba from 2008–2018; and as Acting First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 2006–2011. Under the one-Party system, the position of First Secretary is a more important and powerful office than the Presidency of Cuba.
  3. ^ Previously served as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975–1982.
  4. ^ Previously served as President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon from 1988–1990.
  5. ^ Since the reign of Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1964–1975), the office of prime minister has been held by the king simultaneously.
  6. ^ Born "before 21 May 1788", exact date unknown; died on May 30, 1885
  7. ^ None of the earlier chronicles and contemporary witnesses give his exact age, only mentioning that he was very old. The commonly given birth year of c. 1107 is based on the account of Marino Sanuto the Younger (1466–1536) three centuries later, who stated that Dandolo was eighty-five when he assumed the throne in 1192. (See Madden. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice. p. 92.) Dandalo died on June 1, 1205, so he was 97 or 98 at death if indeed born in 1107.
  8. ^ The dates of birth and death for Ek are unknown.
  9. ^ Previously served as Chancellor of Austria from 2017–2019.
  10. ^ 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: Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the DPRK.
  11. ^ Began personal reign after a 3-year regency
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