Lists of state leaders by age

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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).

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

Oldest serving state leaders[edit]

Top ten currently serving[edit]

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] (1933-02-13)13 February 1933 92 years, 19 days
2 Mahmoud Abbas President of the Palestinian National Authority,
President of the State of Palestine		 2005 (1935-11-15)15 November 1935 89 years, 109 days
3 Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia 2015[2] (1935-12-31)31 December 1935 89 years, 63 days
4 Francis Pope of the Holy See,
Sovereign of the Vatican City State		 2013 (1936-12-17)17 December 1936 88 years, 77 days
5 Harald V King of Norway[3] 1991 (1937-02-21)21 February 1937 88 years, 11 days
6 Cornelius A. Smith Governor-General of the Bahamas 2019 (1937-04-07)7 April 1937 87 years, 331 days
7 Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Emir of Kuwait 2020 (1937-06-25)25 June 1937 87 years, 252 days
8 Ali Khamenei Supreme Leader of Iran 1989[4] (1939-04-19)19 April 1939 85 years, 319 days
9 Margrethe II Queen of Denmark[5] 1972 (1940-04-16)16 April 1940 84 years, 322 days
10 Michael D. Higgins President of Ireland 2011 (1941-04-18)18 April 1941 83 years, 320 days

Top ten of all time[edit]

Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, the oldest serving state leader of all time.
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
1–2 Enrico Dandolo Doge of Venice 1205 (death) 97–98 years[6]
3 Abdul Momin Sultan of Brunei 1885 (death) 97 years, 8 days
4 Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms[7] 2022 (death) 96 years, 140 days
5 Hastings Banda President of Malawi 1994 (presidency for life revoked, defeated in re-election) 96 years, 98 days
6 Prem Tinsulanonda Regent of Thailand 2016 (term ended) 96 years, 97 days
7 George Tupou I King of Tonga 1893 (death) 95 years, 76 days
8 Mahathir Mohamad Prime Minister of Malaysia 2020 (resigned) 94 years, 235 days
9 Nicolò da Ponte Doge of Venice 1585 (death) 94 years, 196 days
10 Malietoa Tanumafili II O le Ao o le Malo of Samoa 2007 (death) 94 years, 127 days

Youngest serving state leaders[edit]

Top ten currently serving[edit]

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[8] 36 years, 63 days to
37 years, 62 days
Interim President of Burkina Faso 2022
2 Jakov Milatović President of Montenegro 2023 7 December 1986 38 years, 87 days
3 Gabriel Boric President of Chile 2022 11 February 1986 39 years, 21 days
4 Dritan Abazović Prime Minister of Montenegro 2022 25 December 1985 39 years, 69 days
5 Mohammed bin Salman Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia 2022 31 August 1985 39 years, 185 days
6 Mahamat Déby Transitional President of Chad[9] 2022 1 January 1984 41 years, 62 days
7 Assimi Goïta Interim President of Mali[10] 2021 22 October 1983 41 years, 133 days
8 Alessandro Scarano Captain Regent of San Marino 2023 3 September 1983 41 years, 182 days
9 Kim Jong Un Supreme Leader of North Korea[11] 2011 8 January 1983[12] 42 years, 55 days[12]
10 Irakli Garibashvili Prime Minister of Georgia[13] 2021 28 June 1982 42 years, 249 days

Top ten since 1905[edit]

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[14] 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[15] 1986 18 years, 6 days[16]
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[edit]

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[edit]

Khamtai Siphandone, the oldest-living state leader
Main article: List of oldest living state leaders
Rank Name Position Born Age
1 Khamtai Siphandone Prime Minister of Laos (1991–1998) (1924-02-08)8 February 1924 101 years, 24 days
Chairman of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (1992–2006)
President of Laos (1998–2006)
2 Tomiichi Murayama Prime Minister of Japan (1994–1996) (1924-03-03)3 March 1924 101 years, 1 day
3 Jimmy Carter President of the United States (1977–1981) (1924-10-01)1 October 1924 100 years, 154 days
4 Guillermo Rodríguez Acting President of Ecuador (1972–1976) (1924-11-04)4 November 1924 100 years, 120 days
5 Ali Hassan Mwinyi President of Tanzania (1985–1995) (1925-05-08)8 May 1925 99 years, 300 days
National Chairman of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (1990–1992)
6 Giorgio Napolitano President of Italy (2006–2015) (1925-06-29)29 June 1925 99 years, 248 days
7 Mahathir Mohamad Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981–2003; 2018–2020) (1925-07-10)10 July 1925 99 years, 237 days
8 Mohammad Hasan Sharq Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Afghanistan (1988–1989) (1925-07-17)17 July 1925 99 years, 230 days
9 Arnaldo Forlani Prime Minister of Italy (1980–1981) (1925-12-08)8 December 1925 99 years, 86 days
10 Abdoulaye Wade President of Senegal (2000–2012) (1926-05-29)29 May 1926 98 years, 279 days

Top ten since 1800[edit]

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[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Previously served as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975–1982.
  2. ↑ Served concurrently as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015–2022.
  3. ↑ The Kingdom of Norway includes the dependent territory of Svalbard.
  4. ↑ Previously served as President of Iran from 1981–1989.
  5. ↑ The Kingdom of Denmark includes the autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
  6. ↑ 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 circa 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.) As Dandalo died on June 1, 1205, he was 97 or 98 at death if indeed born in 1107.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Rakotomalala, Omega; Chothia, Farouk (3 October 2022). "Capt Ibrahim Traoré: Burkina Faso's new military ruler". Nairobi: BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  9. ↑ Previously President of the Transitional Military Council of Chad from 2021–2022.
  10. ↑ Previously Chairman of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People of Mali in 2020 and 2021.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 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.
  13. ↑ Previously Prime Minister of Georgia from 2013–2015.
  14. ↑ Gyanendra's first occupation of the throne was in 1950; he was deposed in the 1951 Nepalese revolution.
  15. ↑ The country was called the Kingdom of Swaziland until 19 April 2018.
  16. ↑ Began personal reign after a 3-year regency
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