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Records of prime ministers of Hungary from 1848 to the present.
Since 1848 when the office of prime minister was established, there have been 62 prime ministers altogether who served in official or non-official status.
All of Hungary's prime ministers have been men as of August 2025.
The longest-serving prime minister is Hungary's history is the incumbent office-holder Viktor Orbán, who held the position from 6 July 1998 to 27 May 2002 and then from 29 May 2010 until the present day. Orbán is also the longest single termed prime minister, surpassing Kálmán Tisza (20 October 1875 – 13 March 1890) both on 30 November 2020 in total number of days and on 21 October 2024 in single term.
The shortest period in office is more confused, depending on the criteria. The shortest ever period was only 17 hours, a record held by János Hadik, from 30 October to 31 October 1918, who was asked to form a government by King Charles IV but the Aster Revolution broke out led by leftist liberal Mihály Károlyi, who founded the Hungarian Democratic Republic. By the end of the day, King Charles IV had accepted the coup and appointed Károlyi as Hungary's new prime minister. Hadik had no time to form a government, so many historians believe he was just a designated premier. In August 1919 Gyula Peidl was appointed prime minister in the last days of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. After five days on August 6 1919, his government was overthrown.
The prime minister with the longest period between the start of his first appointment and the end of his final term was Sándor Wekerle, whose first term began on 17 November 1892 and his third and final term ended on 30 October 1918 (nearly 26 years).
Pál Teleki holds the record for the longest period between terms, his first term ended on 14 April 1921 and his second term did not start until 16 February 1939 (nearly 18 years).
The only prime minister to serve three non-consecutive terms was Sándor Wekerle (17 November 1892 – 14 January 1895, 8 April 1906 – 17 January 1910, 20 August 1917 – 30 October 1918). Mátyás Rákosi also served the same number (1 – 4 February 1946, 31 May 1947, 14 August 1952 – 3 July 1953), but only his third term was official.
The majority of prime ministers served one single or two non-consecutive terms.
The earliest born prime minister is Lajos Kossuth (16 September 1802).
The latest born prime minister is Gordon Bajnai (5 March 1968) who is still alive. Illegally appointed prime minister Ádám Récsey was born on 10 February 1775 and is the only one who was born in the 18th century.
The youngest prime minister to be appointed was András Hegedüs on 18 April 1955 at the age of 32 years and 167 days.
The oldest prime minister to be appointed was Géza Fejérváry on 18 June 1905 at the age of 72 years and 87 days. Ádám Récsey was appointed illegally by the Habsburg dynasty at the age of 73 years and 235 days, but he never served officially as prime minister.
The youngest prime minister to leave office was András Hegedüs, aged 34 years and 1 day.
The oldest prime minister to leave office was Ferenc Münnich, aged 74 years and 299 days.
The longest lived prime minister is Péter Boross, who was born on 27 August 1928 and is 97 years, 2 days, surprassing Lajos Kossuth (91 years and 183 days) on 1 March 2020.
Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám, prime minister of the second Counter-Revolutionary Government during the Hungarian Soviet Republic died on 25 July 1973, at the age of 98 years and 15 days.
The shortest lived prime minister was Lajos Batthyány, who was born on 10 February 1807 and was executed on 6 October 1849 at the age of 42 years and 238 days.
The shortest lived prime minister who died in natural cases was Gyula Gömbös, born on 26 December 1886 and passed away on 6 October 1936 at the age of 49 years and 285 days.
The prime minister who lived the longest after leaving office was Lajos Kossuth, who left office on 1 May 1849 and died on 20 March 1894, a total of 44 years, 10 months and 19 days.
The prime minister who lived the shortest period after leaving office was Ferenc Szálasi, whose term ended on 28 March 1945 and was executed on 12 March 1946.
The shortest lived after office premier who died in natural causes was Kálmán Darányi. He left the office on 14 May 1938 and died on 1 November 1939.
Three prime ministers have died in office:
Six prime ministers were executed; all of them after leaving office.
István Tisza is the only prime minister of Hungary to ever be assassinated. He was killed on 31 October 1918 after leaving office.
Among the 62 prime ministers who held the office at least one day during his life, 3 of them never did it in official status.
The first non-noble born prime minister was Sándor Wekerle. Before his first appointment in 1892, only aristocrats hold the office.
Many prime ministers had other non-Hungarian ancestries, such as German, Slovak, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian or Jewish, but there were no Gypsy/Romani ones until the present day despite being one of the largest ethnic groups in Hungary. Prime minister having ancestry outside Europe were also not.
Most of the prime ministers belonged to the different branches of Christianity or Judaism but some of them were atheist or officially was not a membet of any church or religion.