At 81 years old, Joe Biden is the oldest American president since taking office at the age of 78. Biden is running for re-election in 2024 and will become the world’s ninth-oldest national leader, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. He is the current leader of 187 United Nations member states.
Former President Donald Trump, who is also running for the White House this year, is younger than Biden. However, at 77 years old, Trump is among the world’s 20 oldest leaders when compared to those currently in power.
With current U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both running for re-election to the nation’s highest office, Pew Research Center puts the ages of Biden and Trump into a global context. In order to determine their position, we investigated the ages of current national leaders.
This analysis examines the ages of current heads of government in 187 United Nations member states, based on government biographies and local news articles. This reflects the age of national leaders and, in some instances, acting or interim leaders, as of May 1, 2024. Six UN member states were excluded for which the exact date of birth of their leader could not be found. Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Mali, Niger, Somalia. We reached out to U.S. embassy officials for each of these countries, but no further information was available.
This analysis primarily focuses on the head of government as defined by the country’s political system or constitution. In some cases, national leadership was determined based on which executive branch had the power to appoint or dismiss the nominal head of government. In San Marino, he has two captains and regents who share authority, and Alessandro Rossi has only recently taken up the position, so we included Alessandro Rossi’s data.
This analysis also utilizes Freedom House country rankings to determine whether each country is free, partially free, or not free. These rankings are based on two numerical scores assigned to each country for political rights and civil liberties.
The median age of each country’s total population is projected for 2024 by the United Nations’ 2022 World Population Prospects report. The projections are based on “all available data sources on population size, birth rates, mortality rates, and levels of international migration.”
A recent survey by the center found that American voters are skeptical about both candidates’ fitness for office. Only about 4 in 10 registered U.S. voters are very or extremely confident that Mr. Trump has the mental fitness to become president (38%), but a similar proportion I am confident in my physical strength (36%). Even fewer express such confidence in Biden’s mental (21%) and physical (15%) suitability for the role.
Below are five important facts about the ages of our current national leaders.
National leaders range in age from mid-30s to 91 years old. The youngest leader is Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traore, 36 years old. He is slightly ahead of two 36-year-olds, Ecuadorian President Daniel Novoa and Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic. Only two other world leaders are in their 30s: Ireland’s Taoiseach Simon Harris and Chile’s President Gabriel Borich.
The oldest national leader is Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, who was born in 1933 and took office more than 40 years ago. Mr. Biya is the only current national leader in his 90s.
The average age of current national leaders is 62 years old. As of May 1, 2024. The largest percentage of today’s world leaders (34%) are in their 60s. About a quarter of them (22%) are in their 50s. 19% are in their 70s. And 16% are in their 40s. Biden is among the 5% of leaders in their 80s.
Countries with less freedom tend to have older leaders. The median age of national leaders in countries that Freedom House classifies as “not free” is 68. This compares to 62 years of age in countries classified as “partially free” and 60 years of age in countries classified as “free.”
The United States is classified as a free country and is one of only three countries with a leader over 80 years old. The other two are Ghana and Namibia. In Ghana, President Nana Akufo-Addo recently celebrated his 80th birthday. And in Namibia, 82-year-old Nangolo Mbumba became president earlier this year after the previous leader died at the age of 82.
The average age of female and male leaders is the same. 3% of the world’s male leaders are in their 30s, but there are no female leaders in this age group. However, of the 14 female leaders currently in power, 29% are in their 40s, compared to 14% of male leaders.
At 46 years old, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is the youngest female leader, closely followed by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas, also 46 years old. At 76 years old, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is the oldest female leader.
In most countries, leaders are significantly older than the median population. For example, according to the United Nations’ 2024 population projections, the median American age is 38 years old, but Biden is more than twice that age. In fact, this is the only country with a leader who: young The median number of residents in this country is higher than in Montenegro, Ireland, and Italy. Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot Zamora is 44 years old, the same age as the median resident of Andorra.
In general, countries that Freedom House classifies as free countries have leaders who are closer in age to the median age of their residents than countries that Freedom House classifies as partially free or non-free countries. Probability is high.
Note: This is an update of a post originally published on March 24, 2023.
