The Oldest—And Youngest—World Leaders, Ranked

Being the leader of a country is a stressful job, so it’s easy to assume that this might be a task best suited to younger candidates rather than older heads of state. But the spectrum of leaders’ ages around the world is actually extremely wide.

Imagine being only 36 years old and running a country, or, alternatively, being a leader in power at 93. These are the actual ages of the oldest and youngest world leaders as of June 2026, meaning that there’s a 60-year span between the oldest and youngest people in power.

Age may just be a number, but here are some things you might not know about the ages of those in political power around the world.

Nepal has the youngest leader

Balen Shah is not only a young leader; he’s also a relatively new one. As of 2026, the prime minister is only 36 years old. He was born in 1990 in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu.

Not only is Shah the youngest world leader, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, but he's also been in office for a relatively short period of time. He's only been in power since taking over the position in March 2026 after previously serving as the mayor of Kathmandu. His election was part of a youth revolt that began in 2025, with protests against the government by young Nepalese giving him a boost.

In addition to being 36 years old, Shah is one of less than 10 leaders out of 186 nations featured in the survey who is under the age of 40.

The second-youngest leader is Kristrún Frostadóttir, the prime minister of Iceland. The 38-year-old has been serving in that position since December 2024.

See the world's five youngest leaders (as of June 2026) below:

Longevity in power helps the oldest leader

On the other end of the spectrum, Paul Biya is the oldest leader at age 93. The president of Cameroon has served in the role since 1982, making him the country's leader for almost 45 years.

But there are some caveats to mention when it comes to older leaders. Freedom House, an organization that supports and defends democracy around the world, categorizes seven of the world's 10 oldest leaders as presiding over countries that are not considered free based on the status of political and civil rights there. Biya, for example, won the most recent election in Cameroon with 53% of the vote, but the election was plagued by allegations of fraud.

In second place is King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, who became king in 2015. The king is 90 years old and has given much of his day-to-day ruling power to his son, Mohammed bin Salman, who serves as crown prince and prime minister.

Here are the world's oldest leaders:

Where does Trump stack up?

President Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday in June 2026, making him younger than 16 of the 186 world leaders reviewed by the Pew Research Center.

This may be surprising when considering some statistics found in several previous Pew Research Center-led studies. American voters elected Trump in 2024 despite the fact that a study conducted the previous year found that 49% of those surveyed preferred to have a president in their 50s. Just 3% said they wanted a president who was older than 70.

Another survey by the center in 2023 found that 79% of Americans favored adding maximum age limits for elected officials at the federal level.

How old is the average leader?

Trump is almost 20 years older than the average world leader. Among 186 leaders around the globe, the average age for a country's leader is 63 years old.

In fact, the largest share of global leaders are in their 60s, with 62 leaders sharing that age bracket. An additional 35 leaders are between 50 and 59 years old, while 34 leaders are in their 70s.

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