Lists of state leaders by age

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 Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom (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

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	Born	Age	Position	Assumed office
1	Paul Biya	(1933-02-13)13 February 1933	91 years, 312 days	President of Cameroon	1982^[1]
2	Mahmoud Abbas	(1935-11-15)15 November 1935	89 years, 36 days	President of the Palestinian National Authority, President of the State of Palestine	2005
3	Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud	(1935-12-31)31 December 1935	88 years, 356 days	King of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia^[2]	2015
4	Francis	(1936-12-17)17 December 1936	88 years, 4 days	Pope of the Holy See, Sovereign of the Vatican City State	2013
5	Harald V	(1937-02-21)21 February 1937	87 years, 304 days	King of Norway	1991
6	Ali Khamenei	(1939-04-19)19 April 1939	85 years, 246 days	Supreme Leader of Iran	1989^[3]
8	Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah	(1940-09-27)27 September 1940	84 years, 85 days	Emir of Kuwait	2023
9	Michael D. Higgins	(1941-04-18)18 April 1941	83 years, 247 days	President of Ireland	2011
10	Sergio Mattarella	(1941-07-23)23 July 1941	83 years, 151 days	President of Italy	2015

10 oldest serving state leaders 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)	c. 97–98 years^[4]
3	Abdul Momin	Sultan of Brunei	1885 (death)	97 years, 7 days
4	Elizabeth II	Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms^[5]	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

Longest-lived state leaders

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

Top ten since 1800

Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum (1905–2009, died ages 103 years, 143 days), the longest-lived state leader

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
2	Celâl Bayar	President of Turkey (1950–1960)	1883	1986	103 years, 98 days
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	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
8	Đỗ Mười	General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1991–1997)	1917	2018	101 years, 241 days
9	Zhang Qun	Premier of the Republic of China (1947–1948)	1889	1990	101 years, 219 days
10	Yasuhiro Nakasome	Prime Minister of Japan (1982–1987)	1919	2020	101 years, 186 days

Top ten living

Rank	Name	Position	Birth	Age
1	Guillermo Rodríguez	President of Ecuador (1972–1976)	(1923-11-04)4 November 1923	101 years, 47 days
2	Khamtai Siphandone	Prime Minister of Laos (1991–1998)	(1924-02-08)8 February 1924	100 years, 317 days
		Chairman of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (1992–2006)
		President of Laos (1998–2006)
3	Tomiichi Murayama	Prime Minister of Japan (1994–1996)	(1924-03-03)3 March 1924	100 years, 293 days
4	Jimmy Carter	President of the United States (1977–1981)	(1924-10-01)1 October 1924	100 years, 81 days
5	Mahathir Mohamad	Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981–2003, 2018–2020)	(1925-07-10)10 July 1925	99 years, 164 days
6	Mohammad Hasan Sharq	Prime Minister of Afghanistan (1989–1991)	(1925-07-17)17 July 1925	99 years, 157 days
7	Abdoulaye Wade	President of Senegal (2000–2012)	(1926-05-29)29 May 1926	98 years, 206 days
8	Valdas Adamkus	President of Lithuania (1998–2003; 2004–2009)	(1926-11-03)3 November 1926	98 years, 48 days
9	Raif Dizdarević	President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1988–1989)	(1926-12-09)9 December 1926	98 years, 12 days
10	Thanin Kraivichien	Prime Minister of Thailand (1976–1977)	(1927-04-05)5 April 1927	97 years, 260 days

20 youngest serving state leaders

Rank	Name	Position	Birth	Age
1	Kristrún Frostadóttir	Prime Minister of Iceland (since 2024)	12 May, 1988	36 years, 223 days
2	Ibrahim Traore	President of Burkina Faso (since 2022)	14 March 1988	36 years, 282 days
3	Daniel Noboa	President of Ecuador (since 2023)	30 November 1987	37 years, 21 days
4	Milokjo Spajic	Prime Minister of Montenegro (since 2023)	24 September 1987	37 years, 88 days
5	Simon Harris	Taoiseach (since 2024)	17 October 1986	38 years, 65 days
6	Gabriel Boric	President of Chile (since 2022)	11 February 1986	38 years, 314 days
7	Mohammed bin Salman	Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia (since 2022)	31 August 1985	39 years, 112 days
8	Mahamat Déby	Chairman of the Transitional Military Council of Chad (since 2021)	1 January 1984	40 years, 355 days
9	Kim Jong-un	Supreme Leader of North Korea^[6] (since 2011)	8 January 1983^[7]	41 years, 348 days^[7]
10	Assimi Goïta	Interim President of Mali (since 2021)^[8]	1983	40 years, 356 days to 41 years, 355 days
11	Vjosa Osmani	President of Kosovo (since 2021)	17 May 1982	42 years, 218 days
12	Serdar Berdimuhamedow	President of Turkmenistan (since 2022)	22 September 1981	43 years, 90 days
13	Nayib Bukele	President of El Salvador (since 2019)	24 July 1981	43 years, 150 days
14	Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani	Prime Minister of Qatar (since 2023)	1 November 1980	44 years, 50 days
15	Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene	Prime Minister of Mongolia (since 2021)	29 June 1980	44 years, 175 days
16	Tamim Al Thani	Emir of Qatar (since 2013)	3 June 1980	44 years, 201 days
17	Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck	King of Bhutan (since 2006)	21 February 1980	44 years, 304 days
18	Xavier Espot Zamora	Prime Minister of Andorra (since 2019)	30 October 1979	45 years, 52 days

10 youngest state leaders (since 1942)

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	Simeon II	Tsar of Bulgaria	6 years, 73 days
5	Hussein	King of Jordan	16 years, 271 days
6	Jigme Singye Wangchuck	King of Bhutan	16 years, 256 days
7	Mswati III ^[9]	King of Eswatini ^[10]	18 years, 6 days
8	Bhumibol Adulyadej	King of Thailand	18 years, 186 days
9	Ntare V	King of Burundi	18 years, 218 days
10	Jean-Claude Duvalier	President of Haiti	19 years, 293 days

Notes

↑ Previously served as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975–1982.
↑ Since the reign of Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1964–1975), the office of prime minister has been held by the king simultaneously.
↑ Previously served as President of Iran from 1981–1989.
↑ 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.) As Dandalo died on June 1, 1205, he was 97 or 98 at death if indeed born in 1107.
↑ 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.
↑ 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 Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the DPRK.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 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.
↑ Previously Chairman of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People of Mali in 2020 and 2021.
↑ Began personal reign after a 3-year regency
↑ The country was called the Kingdom of Swaziland until 19 April 2018.

[1] Previously served as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975–1982.

[2] Since the reign of Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1964–1975), the office of prime minister has been held by the king simultaneously.

[3] Previously served as President of Iran from 1981–1989.

[4] 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.) As Dandalo died on June 1, 1205, he was 97 or 98 at death if indeed born in 1107.

[EIIR-5] 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.

[6] 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 Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the DPRK.

[KJU-birth-7] 7.0 ^7.1 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.

[8] Previously Chairman of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People of Mali in 2020 and 2021.

[9] Began personal reign after a 3-year regency

[10] The country was called the Kingdom of Swaziland until 19 April 2018.

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