{"id":313217,"date":"2026-06-09T13:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=313217"},"modified":"2026-06-16T10:03:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:03:30","slug":"as-trump-turns-80-who-are-the-oldest-and-youngest-current-world-leaders","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2026\/06\/09\/as-trump-turns-80-who-are-the-oldest-and-youngest-current-world-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"As Trump turns 80, who are the oldest \u2013 and youngest \u2013 current world leaders?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Pew
Pew Research Center illustration showing (from left) Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah, Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentina President Javier Milei, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, U.S. President Donald Trump and Cameroon President Paul Biya. (Getty Images; AFP and Andalou via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As U.S. President Donald Trump approaches his 80th birthday on June 14, he is among the oldest national leaders in the world, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of current leaders in 186 United Nations member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just 16 of the 186 current national leaders are older than Trump.<\/strong> The oldest leaders are Cameroon President Paul Biya<\/a>, who is 93, and Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud<\/a>, who is 90. Biya has held the presidency for nearly 44 years \u2013 longer than 13 current national leaders have been alive \u2013 and Al Saud has been king since 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the world\u2019s oldest leaders are in African countries.<\/strong> In addition to Biya, the leaders of Malawi, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe, the Republic of the Congo and Uganda are all among the 10 oldest leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Donald Trump is among the world\u2019s 20 oldest national leaders<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Country leader\u2019s age<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Note: Ages are as of June 14, 2026. Data is available for 186 of 193 UN member states.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of government biographies and regional news articles.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About this research<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center analyzed the ages of national leaders around the world ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s 80th birthday on June 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did we do this?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pew Research Center does research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. This research builds on our previous work about political leadership<\/a> around the world, including a look at the oldest and youngest national leaders<\/a> ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We identified the birthdates of the current heads of government in 186 countries that are member states of the United Nations using government biographies and regional news articles. This analysis is based on their ages as of June 14, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This analysis focuses mostly on heads of government as defined by a country\u2019s political system or constitution. In some cases, we determined the national leader based on which executive has the power to appoint or dismiss the nominal head of government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We included acting or interim leaders in a few cases, but not leaders-elect who have yet to take office as of June 14. We excluded six UN member states because their leader\u2019s exact birth date could not be determined: Afghanistan, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia. We also excluded San Marino, which is led by two captains regent<\/a> who share power equally. For Nicaragua, which has been led by two co-presidents<\/a> since 2025, we included the birthdate for Rosario Murillo since she was installed most recently.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Seven of the world\u2019s 10 oldest leaders are also in countries that Freedom House<\/a> categorizes as \u201cnot free,\u201d based on the political rights and civil liberties people have there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other end of the spectrum, the youngest national leader is 36-year-old Balen Shah<\/a>, who became prime minister of Nepal in March after youth-led protests<\/a> helped oust the previous government. Shah, who is also a rap artist, counts TikTok and YouTube<\/a> among his primary income sources, and he released a song on social media about national unity the day before he was sworn in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shah and 38-year-old Iceland Prime Minister Kristr\u00fan Frostad\u00f3ttir are both younger than Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traor\u00e9, who was the youngest national leader when we last did this analysis<\/a> in May 2024. (Traor\u00e9, also 38, is two months older than Frostad\u00f3ttir.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The median age of all national leaders in our analysis is 63.<\/strong> About two-thirds are in their 40s, 50s or 60s. (Read \u201cAbout this research<\/a>\u201d to learn how we defined the leader of each country.)<\/p>\n\n\n

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Globally, a third of national leaders are in their 60s<\/strong><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Number of countries whose leader is in their …<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\"Chart\"<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Note: Ages are as of June 14, 2026. Data is available for 186 of 193 UN member states.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of government biographies and regional news articles.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

How Americans think about U.S. presidents\u2019 ages<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In a 2023 Pew Research Center survey<\/a>, the largest share of Americans (49%) said the ideal age for a U.S. president is in their 50s. Another 24% prefer someone in their 60s, and just 3% said it\u2019s best for a president to be in their 70s or older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, a large majority of Americans (79%) support age limits for elected officials in Washington, D.C., according to another 2023 Center survey<\/a>. Currently, there is no maximum age for these officials, and changing this would likely require amending the Constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Trump turns 80, only 16 of 186 national leaders are older. The median leader age is 63, while Nepal’s 36-year-old PM is the youngest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":313244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-06-10T17:07:48Z","apple_news_api_id":"3bb61aea-6a2c-4043-bc2b-d44bd3a9107a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-06-10T17:07:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AO7Ya6mosQEO8K9RL06kQeg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[29,68,90,115],"bylines":[593,578,954,2366],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[514,505],"research-teams":[525],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-313217","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-generations-age","category-donald-trump","category-generations-age-politics","category-world-leaders","bylines-anna-jackson","bylines-jenn-hatfield","bylines-laura-silver","bylines-sofia-hernandez-ramones","formats-short-read","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-multiple-regions-worldwide","research-teams-global"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":780,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2026\/06\/09\/as-trump-turns-80-who-are-the-oldest-and-youngest-current-world-leaders\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":313244,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/SR_26.06.09_world-leader-age_featured.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/SR_26.06.09_world-leader-age_featured.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false,"caption":"Pew Research Center illustration showing (from left) Nepalese Prime Minister Balen Shah, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentine President Javier Milei, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Marshallese President Hilda Heine, U.S. President Donald Trump and Cameroonian President Paul Biya. 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