List of current longest-ruling non-royal national leaders
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This list of current longest-ruling non-royal national leaders is a list of the current living longest-ruling heads of nation-states or national governments, excluding royalty, who have served ten years or longer, sorted by length of tenure. Heads of generally recognized sovereign states are ranked by number, while heads of sovereign states with limited international recognition are listed in italics and are not given a numbered rank.
The individuals on the list are not always the most powerful figure in their country’s national government. Some are or have been at one time the most powerful figures in their country’s national government but not necessarily continuously throughout the listed timespan. Some of them have held more than one national leadership-level office: presidency, prime minister-ship, or some other title implying or widely believed to confer national leadership. When more than one such office exists in a country, there may be uncertainty as to which member of the national government actually has the ultimate power. Therefore, this list combines all national level offices held concurrently or consecutively by each individual leader.
Rank | Image | Name | Age | Country | Office | Tenure began | Length of tenure |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Paul Biya | 88 | Prime Minister, then President[a] | 30 June 1975 | 46 years, 64 days | ||
2. | Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo | 79 | President[b] | 3 August 1979 | 42 years, 30 days | ||
3. | Ali Khamenei | 82 | President, then Supreme Leader[c] | 13 October 1981 | 39 years, 324 days | ||
4. | Denis Sassou Nguesso | 77 | President[d] | 8 February 1979 – 31 August 1992 (1st time) 25 October 1997 – present (2nd time) | 37 years, 152 days | ||
5. | Hun Sen | 69 | Prime Minister[e] | 26 December 1984 | 36 years, 250 days | ||
6. | Yoweri Museveni | 76 | President | 26 January 1986 | 35 years, 219 days | ||
7. | Nursultan Nazarbayev | 81 | Chairman of the Security Council, formerly President[f] | 16 December 1991 | 29 years, 260 days | ||
8. | Emomali Rahmon | 68 | De facto Head of State, then President[g] | 19 November 1992 | 28 years, 287 days | ||
9. | Isaias Afwerki | 75 | President[h] | 24 May 1993 | 28 years, 101 days | ||
10. | Alexander Lukashenko | 67 | President | 20 July 1994 | 27 years, 44 days | ||
11. | Daniel Ortega | 75 | Acting Head of State, then President[i] | 4 March 1981 – 25 April 1990 (1st time) 10 January 2007 – present (2nd time) | 23 years, 287 days | ||
12. | Ismaïl Omar Guelleh | 73 | President | 8 May 1999 | 22 years, 117 days | ||
13. | Vladimir Putin | 68 | Prime Minister, then President[j] | 9 August 1999 – 7 May 2000 (1st term as Prime Minister) 8 May 2000 – 7 May 2008 (1st & 2nd terms as president) 8 May 2008 – 7 May 2012 (2nd term as Prime Minister) 7 May 2012 – present (3rd & 4th terms as president) | 22 years, 24 days | ||
14. | Keith Mitchell | 74 | Prime Minister | 22 June 1995 – 9 July 2008 (1st time) 20 February 2013 – present (2nd time) | 21 years, 211 days | ||
15. | Paul Kagame | 63 | President | 22 April 2000 | 21 years, 133 days | ||
16. | Hage Geingob | 80 | Prime Minister, then President[k] | 21 March 1990 – 28 August 2002 (1st time) 4 December 2012 – present (2nd time) | 21 years, 67 days | ||
17. | Bashar al-Assad | 55 | President | 17 July 2000 | 21 years, 47 days | ||
18. | Ralph Gonsalves | 75 | the Grenadines | Prime Minister | 29 March 2001 | 20 years, 157 days | |
19. | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | 67 | Prime Minister, then President[l] | 14 March 2003 | 18 years, 172 days | ||
20. | Ilham Aliyev | 59 | Prime Minister, then President[m] | 4 August 2003 | 18 years, 29 days | ||
21. | Shavkat Mirziyoyev | 64 | Prime Minister, then President[n] | 12 December 2003 | 17 years, 264 days | ||
22. | Sheikh Hasina | 73 | Prime Minister | 23 June 1996 – 15 July 2001 (1st time) 6 January 2009 – present (2nd time) | 17 years, 261 days | ||
23. | Roosevelt Skerrit | 49 | Prime Minister | 8 January 2004 | 17 years, 237 days | ||
– | Mahmoud Abbas | 85 | Palestine | Prime Minister, then President[o] | 19 March 2003 – 6 September 2003 (1st time) 15 January 2005 – present (2nd time) | 17 years, 36 days | |
24. | Lee Hsien Loong | 69 | Prime Minister | 12 August 2004 | 17 years, 21 days | ||
25. | Faure Gnassingbé | 55 | President[p] | 5 February 2005 – 25 February 2005 (1st time) 4 May 2005 – present (2nd time) | 16 years, 141 days | ||
26. | Angela Merkel | 67 | Federal Chancellor | 22 November 2005 | 15 years, 284 days | ||
27. | Viktor Orbán | 58 | Prime Minister | 6 July 1998 – 27 May 2002 (1st time) 29 May 2010 – present (2nd time) | 15 years, 56 days | ||
28. | Frank Bainimarama | 67 | Acting Head of State, then Prime Minister[q] | 29 May 2000 – 13 July 2000 (1st time) 5 December 2006 – present (2nd time) | 14 years, 316 days | ||
29. | Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow | 64 | President[r] | 21 December 2006 | 14 years, 255 days | ||
30. | Alassane Ouattara | 79 | Prime Minister, then President[s] | 7 November 1990 – 9 December 1993 (1st time) 4 December 2010 – present (2nd time) | 13 years, 304 days | ||
31. | Mahinda Rajapaksa | 75 | Prime Minister[t] | 6 April 2004 – 19 November 2005 (1st term as Prime Minister) 19 November 2005 – 9 January 2015 (Term as president) 26 October 2018 – 15 December 2018 (2nd disputed term as Prime Minister)[u] 21 November 2019 – present (3rd term as Prime Minister) | 12 years, 248 days | ||
32. | Ueli Maurer | 70 | Federal Council Member, formerly President[v] | 1 January 2009 | 12 years, 244 days | ||
33. | Macky Sall | 59 | Prime Minister, then President[w] | 21 April 2004 – 19 June 2007 (1st time) 2 April 2012 – present (2nd time) | 12 years, 212 days | ||
34. | Miloš Zeman | 76 | Prime Minister, then President[x] | 22 July 1998 – 15 July 2002 (1st time) 8 March 2013 – present (2nd time) | 12 years, 171 days | ||
35. | Azali Assoumani | 62 | President[y] | 30 April 1999 – 21 January 2002 (1st time) 6 May 2002 – 26 May 2006 (2nd time) 26 May 2016 – present (3rd time) | 12 years, 20 days | ||
36. | Borut Pahor | 57 | Prime Minister, then President[z] | 21 November 2008 – 10 February 2012 (1st time) 22 December 2012 – present (2nd time) | 11 years, 335 days | ||
37. | Ali Bongo Ondimba | 62 | President | 16 October 2009 | 11 years, 321 days | ||
– | Arayik Harutyunyan | 47 | Artsakh | Prime Minister, then President[aa] | 14 September 2007 – 25 September 2017 (1st time) 21 May 2020 – present (2nd time) | 11 years, 115 days | |
38. | Mark Rutte | 54 | Prime Minister | 14 October 2010 | 10 years, 323 days | ||
39. | Simonetta Sommaruga | 61 | Federal Council Member, formerly President[ab] | 1 November 2010 | 10 years, 305 days | ||
40. | Alpha Condé | 83 | President | 21 December 2010 | 10 years, 255 days | ||
41. | Nguyễn Phú Trọng | 77 | General Secretary, formerly also President[ac] | 19 January 2011 | 10 years, 226 days | ||
42. | Milo Đukanović | 59 | President[ad] | 3 June 2006 – 10 November 2006 (1st term as Prime Minister) 29 February 2008 – 29 December 2010 (2nd term as Prime Minister) 4 December 2012 – 29 November 2016 (3rd term as Prime Minister) 20 May 2018 – present (Term as president) | 10 years, 200 days | ||
43. | Faustin-Archange Touadéra | 64 | Prime Minister, then President[ae] | 22 January 2008 – 17 January 2013 (1st time) 30 March 2016 – present (2nd time) | 10 years, 152 days | ||
44. | Salva Kiir Mayardit | 70 | President[af] | 9 July 2011 | 10 years, 55 days | ||
45. | Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi | 76 | Acting President, then President[ag] | 4 June 2011 – 23 September 2011 (1st time) 23 November 2011 – present (2nd time) | 10 years, 27 days |