The position of presidency factorises age as a requirement. It is often believed that the older the president, the better the nation will be governed.
However, there is a modern drift from that trend. Young, youthful and charismatic leaders are now emerging as presidents across the world. The age range of these leaders are more than between 35 to 49 years.
Here are the ten (10) youngest presidents in the world.
1. Ibrahim Traore (Burkinaso, age 37)
Ibrahim Traore, the military leader of Burkina Faso
Since September 30, 2022, Ibrahim Traoré has served as Burkina Faso’s military and acting leader. At the age of 34, Traoré staged a coup d’etat to remove Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the previous interim president. Traoré, a 36-year-old Burkinabe leader who was born on March 14, 1988, is now Africa’s youngest president.
. Daniel Noboa (Ecuador, age 37)
Daniel Noboa Azín, the youngest president of republican Ecuador and modern Latin America, took over as head of the National Government at the age of 35. He was a member of the National Assembly before winning 52.1% of the vote in his first run for the presidency of the Republic on October 15, 2023.
Jakov Milatovic (Montegnero, age 38)
After serving as Minister of Economic Development in the 42nd Government of Montenegro (2020–2022), President Jakov Milatović created the Europe Now Movement! in June 2022 prior to his election.
He became President of Montenegro on May 20, 2023.
4. Gabriel Boric (Chile, age 39)
In December 2021, Gabriel Boric, a Chilean politician and law graduate, defeated José Antonio Kast in the second round of the presidential election with 55.9% of the vote, becoming the youngest president in Chilean history and the seventh youngest state leader in the world. Boric has thus been the 37th president of Chile since 2022, having previously served two four-year terms as a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies.
5. Mahamat Deby (Chad, age 41)
(Photo by Denis Sassou Gueipeur / AFP)
The son of a Gourane mother and Idriss Déby, the commander-in-chief of the Chadian Ground Forces at the time, Mahamat Déby was born in 1984.
A politician and military officer from Chad, he has led the country since 2021. He served as the Transitional Military Council’s president from 2021 to 2022, then as Transitional President from 2022 to 2024, and finally as the country’s seventh president since 2024 after winning the presidential election.
6. Assimi Goita ( Mali, age 41)
Mali junta leader Assimi Goïta
Colonel Goita was born in 1983. He was trained in Mali’s military schools and, notably, attended the Combined Military School of Koulikoro and the military Prytanee of Kati. He is the son of an officer in the Malian Armed Forces.
He served as Mali’s Head of State from August 24 to September 25, 2020, and as president of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People beginning August 19, 2020. He served as the Transition’s vice president from September 25, 2020, to May 27, 2021. The following day, he became the President of the Transition.
7. Vjosa Osmani (Kosovo, age 42)
After serving as Speaker of Parliament and winning five consecutive terms as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the Republic of Kosovo, President Osmani was elected on April 4, 2021.
Vjosa Osmani had initially been elected Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo on February 3, 2020, making her the first female Speaker of the Parliament before becoming president. From November 2020 to March 2021, she also held the position of Acting President of the Republic of Kosovo. She served as the deputy chair of the Committee on Constitutional Reform and as the chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and European Integration during her prior tenure as an MP.
8. Nayib Bukele (El Salvado, age 43)
Nayib Bukele is El Salvador’s 81st president. Following several political initiatives, he soon established the Nuevas Ideas political party and ran for president in 2019. Bukele defeated the two major political forces for a lengthy period of power sharing when he campaigned for president with the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) and won with 53% of the vote after the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) denied his party’s registration.
9. Bassirou Diomaye Faye (Senegal, age 45)
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye
On March 25, 1980, Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye was born in the M’bour department of Ndiaganiao.
His Excellency, The Republic of Senegal’s fourth president, Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, took office on April 2, 2024, at the age of 44. Up until Ibrahim Traore of Burkina’s coup, he was the youngest democratically elected president of Africa, representing a new generation of leaders dedicated to modernity and transformation on the continent.
10. Xavier Espot Zamora (Andorra, age 45)
In the Antoni Martí administration, Xavier succeeded Rosa Ferrer Obiols as Minister of Social Affairs, Justice, and Interior from July 25, 2012, to February 28, 2019. To prepare for his bid to become prime minister in the 2019 general election, he resigned from his position as minister on February 28, 2019.
Thus, on May 16, 2019, he was elected prime minister.
