Lists of state leaders by age

Since 1800, the youngest serving state leader has been 0-day-old Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, ^[1] while the oldest has been 96-year-old Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms.

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

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	State	Position	Assumed office	Born	Age
1	Paul Biya	Cameroon	President	1982 [2]	(1933-02-13)13 February 1933	92 years, 218 days
2	Mahmoud Abbas	Palestine	President	2005 [3]	(1935-11-15)15 November 1935	89 years, 308 days
3	Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud	Saudi Arabia	King	2015 [4]	(1935-12-31)31 December 1935	89 years, 262 days
4	Harald V	Norway	King [5]	1991	(1937-02-21)21 February 1937	88 years, 210 days
5	Ali Khamenei	Iran	Supreme Leader	1989 [6]	(1939-04-19)19 April 1939	86 years, 153 days
6	Jean-Lucien Savi de Tové	Togo	President	2025	(1939-05-07)7 May 1939	86 years, 135 days
7	Muhammad Yunus	Bangladesh	Chief Adviser	2024	(1940-06-28)28 June 1940	85 years, 83 days
8	Mishal I	Kuwait	Emir	2023	(1940-09-27)27 September 1940	84 years, 357 days
9	Michael D. Higgins	Ireland	President	2011	(1941-04-18)18 April 1941	84 years, 154 days
10	Sergio Mattarella	Italy	President	2015	(1941-07-23)23 July 1941	84 years, 58 days

Top ten of all time

Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, the oldest serving state leader of all time whose age is fully verifiable

  Currently in office

  Currently living

Rank	Name	State	Position	Last year in office (reason term ended)	Age at end
1	Giovanni Paolo Lascaris	Malta	Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller	1657 (death)	97 years, 47 days
2	Elizabeth II	United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms	Queen [7]	2022 (death)	96 years, 140 days
3	Prem Tinsulanonda	Thailand	Regent	2016 (tenure ended)	96 years, 97 days
4	George Tupou I	Tonga	King	1893 (death)	95 years, 76 days
5	Mahathir Mohamad	Malaysia	Prime Minister	2020 (resigned)	94 years, 235 days
6	Nicolò da Ponte	Venice	Doge of Venice	1585 (death)	94 years, 196 days
7	Malietoa Tanumafili II	Samoa	O le Ao o le Malo	2007 (death)	94 years, 127 days
8	Robert Mugabe	Zimbabwe	President	2017 (resigned)	93 years, 273 days
9	Beji Caid Essebsi	Tunisia	President	2019 (death)	92 years, 238 days
10	Paul Biya	Cameroon	President	Incumbent	92 years, 218 days

Youngest serving state leaders

Top ten currently serving

Kristrún Frostadóttir, the youngest serving state leader

Rank	Name	State	Position	Assumed office	Born	Age
1	Kristrún Frostadóttir	Iceland	Prime Minister	2024	12 May 1988	37 years, 130 days
2	Ibrahim Traoré	Burkina Faso	President of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, Interim State President	2022	14 March 1988	37 years, 189 days
3	Daniel Noboa	Ecuador	President	2023	30 November 1987	37 years, 293 days
4	Milojko Spajić	Montenegro	Prime Minister	2023	24 September 1987	37 years, 360 days
5	Jakov Milatović		President	2023	7 December 1986	38 years, 286 days
6	Sébastien Lecornu	France	Prime Minister	2025	11 June 1986	39 years, 100 days
7	Gabriel Boric	Chile	President	2022	11 February 1986	39 years, 220 days
8	Yulia Svyrydenko	Ukraine	Prime Minister	2025	25 December 1985	39 years, 268 days
9	Mohammed bin Salman	Saudi Arabia	Prime Minister	2022	31 August 1985	40 years, 19 days
10	Mahamat Déby	Chad	President [8]	2024	4 April 1984	41 years, 168 days

Top ten since 1800

  Currently living

Rank	Name	State	Position	Assumed office	Age when assuming office
1	Alfonso XIII	Spain	King	1886	0 days [1]
2	Sobhuza II	Swaziland	King	1899	141 days
3	Fuad II	Egypt	King	1952	192 days
4	Puyi	China	Emperor	1908	2 years, 299 days
5	Rajendra	Nepal	King	1816	2 years, 353 days
6	Isabella II	Spain	Queen	1833	2 years, 354 days
7	Gyanendra	Nepal	King	1950 [9]	3 years, 123 days
8	Guangxu	China	Emperor	1875	3 years, 195 days
9	Mwambutsa IV	Burundi	King	1915	3 years, 224 days
10	Faisal II	Iraq	King	1939	3 years, 337 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

Main article: List of oldest living state leaders

Rank	Name	State	Position	Born	Age
1	Guillermo Rodríguez	Ecuador	Acting President (1972–1976)	4 Nov 1923	101 years, 319 days
2	Tomiichi Murayama	Japan	Prime Minister (1994–1996)	3 Mar 1924	101 years, 200 days
3	Mahathir Mohamad	Malaysia	Prime Minister (1981–2003; 2018–2020)	10 Jul 1925	100 years, 71 days
4	Mohammad Hasan Sharq	Afghanistan	Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1988–1989)	17 Jul 1925	100 years, 64 days
5	Abdoulaye Wade	Senegal	President (2000–2012)	29 May 1926	99 years, 113 days
6	Valdas Adamkus	Lithuania	President (1998–2003; 2004–2009)	3 Nov 1926	98 years, 320 days
7	Raif Dizdarević	Yugoslavia	President of the Presidency (1988–1989)	9 Dec 1926	98 years, 284 days
8	Kim Yong-nam	North Korea	Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (1998–2019)	4 Feb 1928	97 years, 227 days
9	Arthur Foulkes	Bahamas	Governor-General (2010–2014)	11 May 1928	97 years, 131 days
10	Péter Boross	Hungary	Prime Minister (1993–1994)	27 Aug 1928	97 years, 23 days

Top ten since 1800

Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum, the longest-lived state leader

  Currently living

Rank	Name	State	Position	Born	Died	Age
1	Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum	Cambodia	Acting Prime Minister (1962)	1905	2009	103 years, 143 days
2	Celâl Bayar	Turkey	Prime Minister (1937–1939) President (1950–1960)	1883	1986	103 years, 98 days
3	Antoine Pinay	France	Prime Minister (1952–1953)	1891	1994	102 years, 348 days
4	André Prunet-Foch	Andorra	French Viguier (1977–1980)	1914	2017	102 years, 211 days
5	Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni	Japan	Prime Minister (1945)	1887	1990	102 years, 48 days
6	Babiker Awadalla	Sudan	Prime Minister (1969)	1917	2019	101 years, 321 days
7	Guillermo Rodríguez	Ecuador	Acting President (1972–1976)	1923	Alive	101 years, 319 days
8	Willem Drees	Netherlands	Prime Minister (1948–1958)	1886	1988	101 years, 314 days
9	Đỗ Mười	Vietnam	Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1988–1991) General Secretary of the Communist Party (1991–1997)	1917	2018	101 years, 241 days
10	Zhang Qun	China	Premier (1947–1948)	1889	1990	101 years, 219 days

See also

• Lists of state leaders

Notes

1. Became a monarch at birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year.
2. Previously served as Prime Minister from 1975–1982.
3. Previously served as Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority in 2003.
4. Served concurrently as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015–2022.
5. The Kingdom of Norway includes the dependent territory of Svalbard.
6. Previously served as President from 1981–1989.
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. Previously President of the Transitional Military Council of Chad from 2021–2022, and Transitional President of Chad from 2022–2024.
9. Gyanendra's first occupation of the throne was in 1950; he was deposed in the 1951 Nepalese revolution.