Who is the oldest leader in the world who is at the helm of a country? Joe Biden became the only United States president to turn 80 in Office.
Joe Biden , who entered office at 78 years, is once again considering for fighting the elections in 2024. Biden is the ninth oldest leader now in the world, according to a new Pew Research Centeranalysis.
YOUNG LEADERS
National leaders range in age from the mid-30s to 90. The youngest head of government is Gabriel Boric of Chile, who is 37. The current leader of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, is younger than Boric but is not included in this analysis because an exact date of birth could not be obtained. Traoré is either 34 or 35.), the analysis said. Overall, Boric and Traoré are among a handful of national leaders who are in their 30s. The others in the thirties include two other 37-year-olds – Sanna Marin of Finland and Dritan Abazović of Montenegro. The oldest national leader is Paul Biya of Cameroon, who was born in 1933 and took office more than 40 years ago. Biya is the only current national leader in his 90, the PEW centre added.
MEDIAN AGE
The median age of current national leaders is 62. When grouped by decade, the largest share of global leaders today (35%) are in their 60s. Roughly a quarter (22%) are in their 50s, while 18% each are in their 40s or 70s. Biden is among the 5% of leaders who are in their 80s.
Countries that are less free tend to have older leaders. In countries that Freedom House classifies as not free, the median age of the national leader is 69, compared with 61 in countries that are classified as partly free and 58 in countries classified as free. The United States is one of only two countries that are classified as free and have a leader in their 80s or older. The other is Namibia, where the president is 81-year-old Hage Geingob.
In most countries, the leader is significantly older than the median member of the population. For example, the median American is 38, while Biden is more than twice as old. In fact, the only countries that have a leader who is younger than the median resident of the country are Andorra, Montenegro, Italy and Finland.
In general, countries that are deemed free – as determined by Freedom House – are more likely than those deemed partly free or not free to have leaders who are closer in age to the median resident of the country.
WOMEN
Women leaders tend to be younger than men leaders. Although only 13 countries currently have a woman in the top office, the median age of these women is 57, compared with 62 for national leaders who are men, the analysis noted.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is the youngest woman in power at 37, after having been sworn in at 34. Five other women leaders are in their 40s: Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, Kaja Kallas of Estonia, Katrín Jakobsdóttir of Iceland, Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Ana Brnabić of Serbia.
