List of prime ministers of New Zealand by age


This is a list of prime ministers of New Zealand by age, including when they were born, what age they were when they were appointed prime minister, what age they were when they left the office and the age at which they died, or their current age as of if they are still alive. The table can be sorted by each different category.
The date of appointment is the date on which they were sworn in by the governor-general for their first term. The day on which they departed office is the final day of their final term. This is either the day a new prime minister was appointed or their date of death if they died whilst in office.

Overview

The oldest living Prime Minister is Jim Bolger, born 31 May 1935. The youngest living former Prime Minister is Bill English, born 30 December 1961. The youngest living Prime Minister is the incumbent, Jacinda Ardern, born 26 July 1980.
The longest-lived Prime Minister was George Grey, who lived to. Current oldest-living Prime Minister Jim Bolger will tie Grey if he lives to 6 November 2021. The shortest-lived Prime Minister was Norman Kirk, who died in office at the age of 51 years, 237 days.
The prime minister with the longest retirement is Robert Stout. He left office on 8 October 1887, and died 42 years, and 284 days later on 19 July 1930. The prime minister with the shortest retirement is Joseph Ward, who died on 8 July 1930, 41 days after he left office on 28 May 1930.
Key:
#Prime ministerDate of birthStart date of termAge at beginning of termEnd date of termAge at leaving officeTotal time in officeTotal time after leaving officeDate of deathLifespan
107.09.180707.05.185648-24320.05.185600,013 days14.05.1879 days
220.01.181220.05.185644-00008.04.187301,609 days23.06.1893 days
323.04.181902.06.185637-04011.10.187203,248 days14.02.1901 days
420.05.181106.08.186251-07830.10.186300,450 days02.11.1887 days
523.04.181230.10.186351-19025.09.188300,913 days04.12.1891 days
609.05.182324.11.186441-19916.10.186500,326 days20.07.1891 days
706.04.182411.10.187248-18803.03.187300,143 days06.08.1906 days
824.02.183508.04.187338-04301.09.187601,018 days12.03.1899 days
902.06.181306.07.187562-03415.02.187600,224 days18.05.1896 days
1001.11.183101.09.187644-30524 1 189101,943 days28.06.1892 days
1114.04.181213.10.187765-18208.10.187900,725 days19.09.1898 days
12Hall, JohnJohn Hall18.12.182408.10.187954-29421.04.188200,926 days25 6 1907 days
1328.09.184416.08.188439-32308.10.188701,142 days19.07.1930 days
1427.03.183924.01.189151-30327.04.1893 N/A00,824 days N/A days
1522.06.184527.04.189347-30910 6 1906 N/A04,791 days N/A10 6 1906 days
16Hall-Jones, WilliamWilliam Hall-Jones16.01.185110.06.190655-14506.08.190600,057 days19.06.1936 days
1726.04.185606.08.190650-10202,595 days8 7 1930 days
1810.03.185328.03.191258-01800,104 days14.02.1930 days
1926.03.185610.07.191256-106 N/A04,687 days N/A10.05.1925 days
20Bell, FrancisFrancis Bell31.03.185110.05.192574-04030.05.192500,020 days13.03.1936 days
2103.02.187830.05.192547-11610.12.192801,290 days27.05.1943 days
22Forbes, GeorgeGeorge Forbes12.03.186928.05.193061-07706.12.193502,018 days17.05.1947 days
23Savage, Michael JosephMichael Joseph Savage23.03.187206.12.193563-25827.03.1940N/A01,573 daysN/A27.03.1940 days
2428.08.188427.03.194055-21213.12.194903,548 days12.12.1950 days
2518.10.189313.12.194956-05620 9 195702,838 days5 8 1961 days
2611.02.190420.09.195753-22107.02.197204,157 days08.12.1983 days
2712.02.188212.12.195775-30312.12.196001,096 days04.06.1968 days
2805.03.191207.02.197259-33908.12.197200,305 days30.08.1988 days
2906.01.192308.12.197249-33731 8 1974N/A00,631 daysN/A31.08.1974 days
3015.11.192706.09.197446-29512.12.197500,462 days31.10.1995 days
3125.09.192112.12.197554-07826.07.198403,149 days05.08.1992 days
3204.08.194226.07.198441-35708.08.198901,839 days13.08.2005 days
3321.04.194208.08.198947-10904.09.199000,392 days-- days '
34Moore, MikeMike Moore28.01.194904.09.199041-2192 11 199000,059 days2 2 2020 days
3531.05.193502.11.199055-15508.12.199702,593 days-- days '
3604.02.195208.12.199745-30710.12.199900,727 days-- days '
3726.02.195010.12.199949-28219.11.200803,272 days-- days '
3809.08.196119.11.200847-10212.12.201602,945 days-- days '
3930.12.196112.12.201654-34726.10.201700,318 days-- days '
4026.07.198026.10.201737-092IncumbentIncumbent00, daysIncumbent-- days
#Prime ministerDate of birthStart date of termAge at beginning of termEnd date of termAge at leaving officeTotal time in officeLength of retirementDate of deathLifespan

Records

The three youngest people when they first became prime minister were:
The three oldest people when they first became prime minister were:
The three oldest people to last leave the office of prime minister were:
The three youngest people to last leave the office of prime minister were:
Not all prime ministers live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 33 deceased prime ministers, 16 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 17 did not. Jim Bolger has held this distinction since Bill Rowling's death on 31 October 1995 a record so far. He surpassed the previous record held by Robert Stout on 24 November 2018. Robert Stout became the oldest living prime minister when John Hall died in 1907 and remained so until his death in 1930, for 23 years and 24 days.
John Hall became the oldest living prime minister after the death of George Waterhouse, but he survived Waterhouse by only 323 days.
On one occasion the oldest living prime minister lost this distinction not by his death, but due to the appointment of a prime minister who was older. Sidney Holland ceased to be the oldest living prime minister when Walter Nash was appointed.
John Hall was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 81 years, and 231 days. Francis Bell, who was 84 years, and 348 days old when he died, was the oldest prime minister to die without ever acquiring this distinction. Mike Moore, who died on 2 February 2020 at 71 years, and 5 days old is the most recent prime minister to die without ever acquiring this distinction.
Prime MinisterBecame oldest living prime ministerCeased to be oldest living prime ministerAge at start dateAge at end dateDuration
Henry Sewell07 05 185614 05 1879
Alfred Domett14 05 187902 11 1887
William Fox02 11 188723 06 1893
George Grey23 06 189319 09 1898
Edward Stafford19 09 189814 02 1901
George Waterhouse14 02 190106 08 1906
John Hall06 08 190625 06 1907
Robert Stout25 06 190719 07 1930
William Hall-Jones19 07 193019 06 1936
George Forbes19 06 193617 05 1947
Peter Fraser17 05 194712 12 1950
Sidney Holland12 12 195012 12 1957
Walter Nash12 12 195704 06 1968
Keith Holyoake04 06 196808 12 1983
Jack Marshall08 12 198330 08 1988
Robert Muldoon30 08 198805 08 1992
Bill Rowling5 08 199231 10 1995
Jim Bolger31 10 1995Current oldest living prime ministerCurrent oldest living prime minister
Prime MinisterBecame oldest living prime ministerCeased to be oldest living prime ministerAge at start dateAge at end dateDuration