- Once inaugurated, Sebastian Kurz would replace 34-year-old Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin as the world’s youngest head of government. She has held that title since Dec. 10.
- 34-year-old Sanna Marin will soon be the world’s youngest sitting prime minister after being selected by Finland’s Social Democratic party to take over as the country’s leader.
- Marin’s age and progressive politics, plus the fact she’s a new mom, have prompted comparisons to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is 39.
- Other countries across the world have leaders in their 30s, such as Ukraine’s Oleksiy Honcharuk (35) and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (35).
In world politics, youth appears to be having a moment. Austria’s 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz appears set to become the youngest head of government in the world — for the second time — after his conservative party and the Austrian Green party announced a coalition agreement.
At 34, Sanna Marin will soon become the world’s youngest sitting prime minister after being selected by Finland’s Social Democratic party to take over as leader following the resignation of Prime Minister Antti Rinne.
In recent years there has been a surge of politicians in their 30s winning leadership roles, including New Zealand’s 39-year-old Prime Minister Jacina Ardern, Ukraine’s 35-year-old Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and El Salvador’s 38-year-old President Nayib Bukele.
Scroll down to see the young people who have ascended to the heights of political power.
11. ANDORRA: Xavier Espot Zamora, 40 (born 30 October 1979)
Xavier Espot Zamora. LUDOVIC MARIN/Getty Images
In May 2019, the politician and lawyer was appointed prime minister of Andorra, a tiny, independent principality in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. Andorra is the sixth-smallest European nation and has a population of approximately 77,000.
Before taking the top spot, Zamora was the Minister of Social Affairs, Justice and Interior. He completed his law degrees in Barcelona.
10. COSTA RICA: Carlos Alvarado Quesada, 39 (born 14 January 1980)
Carlos Alvarado Quesada greets a supporter in 2018. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate
Alvarado Quesada won the presidential election in April 2018. The progressive politician said he decided to fight for the top spot after seeing Western democracies face populist or fundamentalist movements, Reuters reported.
In his younger years, he earned his master’s in Britain, sang in a college rock band called Dramatika, and worked for three years for Procter & Gamble in Panama. He worked at a sports gambling call center and published four books.
Before being elected president, he served as social development minister and labor minister.
9. BHUTAN: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 39 (born 21 February 1980)
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, king of Bhutan. Reuters
Khesar is the fourth “Dragon King” of Bhutan, a Himalayan nation which borders India and China. He took power at the age of 26 when his father, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, abdicated.
Khesar studied in the United States and attended Magdalen College, Oxford, before returning to Bhutan. He has said one of the aims of his reign is to strengthen democracy in his country.
8. QATAR: Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, 39 (born 3 June 1980)
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Thomson Reuters
Sheikh Tamim was 33 when he took over as Emir of Qatar when his father stepped down.
His elder brother Jasim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani was originally due to inherit the throne, but renounced his claim in 2003, leaving the way clear.
7. HAITI: Fritz-William Michel, 39 (born 23 July 1980)
Fritz-William Michel. REUTERS
Michel has been Haiti’s acting prime minister since July 2019. Little was known about Michel — who worked in the ministry of economy and finance — when he was named as prime minister by President Jovenel Moïse in July.
6. NEW ZEALAND: Jacinda Ardern, 39 (born 26 July 1980)
Jacinda Ardern, the new Prime Minister of New Zealand, gives a victory press conference on October 19, 2017. Getty Images
Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, became Prime Minister in October 2017 after a close-fought election.
She rose exceptionally quickly through the ranks of New Zealand politics, seizing the country’s highest office less than a year after entering parliament. Ardern was elected MP for Mount Albert, a suburb of Auckland, at a by-election in February 2017. She was elected Labour leader in August, and entered a general election campaign shortly after.
Since taking over as leader, she has been applauded for being an outspoken voice against sexism and racism, swiftly banned military-style semiautomatic and assault rifles after the Christchurch shooting, and welcomed a daughter. Read more about her life and ascent to power here.
5. EL SALVADOR: Nayib Bukele, 38 (born 24 July 1981)
President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele. Reuters
Nayib Bukele, a former businessman and mayor of San Salvador, easily won El Savador’s election in February 2019 and was sworn in as president in June. The win for his GANA party (the Grand Alliance for National Unity) ended the dominance of the FMLN and ARENA parties.
4. NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong Un, 35 (born 8 January 1983)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during the Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang May 7, 2016. KCNA/via REUTERS
The Supreme Leader of North Korea has been groomed for power for most of his life, and took control of the Hermit Kingdom in 2011, at the age of 30.
A diehard basketball fan who was educated at a private school in Switzerland, Kim has had a life unlike any other world leader.
His nuclear ambitions and bellicose rhetoric also mean he occupies a place on the world stage completely out of proportion with his nation’s power.
3. UKRAINE: Oleksiy Honcharuk, 35 (born 7 July 1984)
Prime Minister Honcharuk. Reuters
Oleksiy Honcharuk had just three months of government experience when he became the country’s youngest ever prime minister in August 2019.
A lawyer, Honcharuk was appointed a deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office in May. Before that, he led a non-government organization that focused on reforms and was an adviser for the Ministry of Ecology. Zelensky himself is only 41.
2. FINLAND: Sanna Marin, 34 (born November 16, 1985)
Sanna Marin. Reuters
Finland’s Sanna Marin, 34, will be sworn in as the country’s prime minister this week — becoming the world’s youngest.
Marin, formerly Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications, was elected to take over by the Social Democratic party after former Prime Minister Antti Rinne resigned.
She will also make history as the country’s youngest-ever prime minister. She will be Finland’s third female prime minister.
1. AUSTRIA: Sebastian Kurz, 33 (born Agust 27, 1986)
The leader of the Austrian People’s Party, Sebastian Kurz, speaks to reporters in Vienna on Jan. 1. (Florian Wieser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Austria’s 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz appears set to become the youngest head of government in the world — for the second time — after his conservative party and the Austrian Green party announced a coalition agreement on Wednesday.
Kurz, who became Austrian chancellor for the first time at age 31 in 2017, lost his job when a scandal triggered a breakup with his far-right coalition partner last May.
