List of prime ministers of India by longevity

This is a List of prime ministers of India by longevity. Where the person in question is still living, the longevity is calculated up to 1 February 2021.

Living as of 1 February 2021

Prime Minister	Date of birth	Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh	26 September 1932	2004–2014
H. D. Deve Gowda	18 May 1933	1996–1997
Narendra Modi	17 September 1950	2014–

Two measures of the longevity are given - this is to allow for the differing number of leap days occurring within the life of each Prime Minister. The first column is the number of days between date of birth and date of death, allowing for leap days; the second column breaks this number down into years and days, with the years being the number of whole years the Prime Minister lived, and the days being the remaining number of days after his/her last birthday.

If a Prime Minister served more than one non-consecutive term, the dates listed below are for the beginning of their first term, and the end of their final term.

The median age at which a Prime Minister first takes office is roughly 64 years and 166 days, which falls between Narendra Modi and P. V. Narasimha Rao. The oldest person to become Prime Minister was Morarji Desai, who became Prime Minister at the age of 81 years, 23 days. The youngest person to become Prime Minister was Rajiv Gandhi, who became Prime Minister at the age of 40 years, 72 days.

The oldest living Prime Minister is Manmohan Singh, born 26 September 1932 (aged 88 years, 128 days). The youngest living Prime Minister is the incumbent Narendra Modi, born 17 September 1950 (aged 70 years, 137 days). Manmohan Singh and H. D. Deve Gowda are the only surviving former Prime Ministers of India.

The longest lived Prime Minister was Morarji Desai, who lived to the age of 99 years, 41 days. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the second longest-lived Prime Minister, who lived to the age of 93 years, 234 days, 5 years and 172 days short of Desai. The shortest lived Prime Minister was Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated at the age of 46 years, 274 days. Lal Bahadur Shastri is the only prime minister to die abroad, when he died in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbek SSR in 1966.

The Prime Minister with the longest retirement is H. D. Deve Gowda. He left office 23 years, 286 days ago on 21 April 1997 and is still alive. The prime minister with the shortest retirement is Rajiv Gandhi, who died on 21 May 1991, 1 year and 170 days after leaving office on 2 December 1989.

Narendra Modi (17 September 1950) is the first Prime Minister of India to be born after the Independence of India. All other former Prime Ministers were born before the Independence of India.

Age of the Prime Ministers when assuming office is shown in this bar chart. It is not quite a bell curve (mean age is 64.62 years and is marked by red line).

Prime Ministers of India

  Living
  Currently in Office

#	Prime Minister	Date of birth	Place of birth	Start date of (first) term	Age at beginning of (first) term	End date of (final) term	Total time in office	Date of death	Place of death	Length of Retirement	Lifespan
1	Jawaharlal Nehru	14 November 1889	Prayagraj, North-Western Provinces	15 August 1947	57 years, 274 days	27 May 1964[1]	16 years, 286 days	27 May 1964	New Delhi	N/A	27,222 days (74 years, 195 days)
2	Lal Bahadur Shastri	2 October 1904	Mughalsarai, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh	9 June 1964	59 years, 251 days	11 January 1966[1]	1 year, 216 days	11 January 1966	Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union	N/A	22,381 days (61 years, 101 days)
3	Indira Gandhi	19 November 1917	Allahabad, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh	24 January 1966	48 years, 66 days	31 October 1984[1]	15 years, 350 days	31 October 1984	New Delhi	N/A	24,453 days (66 years, 347 days)
4	Morarji Desai	29 February 1896	Bhadeli, Bombay Presidency	24 March 1977	81 years, 24 days	28 July 1979	2 years, 126 days	10 April 1995	Bombay, Maharashtra	15 years, 256 days	36,199 days (99 years, 41 days)
5	Charan Singh	23 December 1902	Noorpur, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh	28 July 1979	76 years, 217 days	14 January 1980	170 days	29 May 1987	New Delhi	7 years, 135 days	30,838 days (84 years, 157 days)
6	Rajiv Gandhi	20 August 1944	Bombay, Bombay Presidency	31 October 1984	40 years, 72 days	2 December 1989	5 years, 32 days	21 May 1991	Sriperumpudur, Tamil Nadu	1 year, 170 days	17,075 days (46 years, 274 days)
7	Vishwanath Pratap Singh	25 June 1931	Allahabad, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh	2 December 1989	58 years, 160 days	10 November 1990	343 days	27 November 2008	New Delhi	17 years, 361 days	28,280 days (77 years, 155 days)
8	Chandra Shekhar	1 July 1927	Ibrahimpatti, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh	10 November 1990	63 years, 132 days	21 June 1991	223 days	8 July 2007	New Delhi	16 years, 17 days	29,227 days (80 years, 7 days)
9	P. V. Narasimha Rao	28 June 1921	Narsampet, Hyderabad State	21 June 1991	69 years, 358 days	16 May 1996	4 years, 330 days	23 December 2004	New Delhi	8 years, 221 days	30,494 days (83 years, 178 days)
10	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	25 December 1924	Gwalior, Gwalior State	16 May 1996	71 years, 143 days	22 May 2004	6 years, 78 days	16 August 2018	New Delhi	14 years, 86 days	34,202 days (93 years, 234 days)
11	H. D. Deve Gowda	18 May 1933	Haradanahalli, Kingdom of Mysore	1 June 1996	63 years, 14 days	21 April 1997	324 days	–	–	23 years, 286 days	32,036 days (87 years, 259 days)
12	I. K. Gujral	4 December 1919	Pari Derveza, Punjab Province	21 April 1997	77 years, 138 days	19 March 1998	332 days	30 November 2012	Gurgaon, Haryana	14 years, 256 days	33,965 days (92 years, 362 days)
13	Dr. Manmohan Singh	26 September 1932	Gah, Punjab Province	22 May 2004	71 years, 239 days	26 May 2014	10 years, 4 days	–	–	6 years, 251 days	32,270 days (88 years, 128 days)
14	Narendra Modi	17 September 1950	Vadnagar, Bombay State	26 May 2014	63 years, 251 days	Incumbent	6 years, 251 days	–	–	Incumbent	25,705 days (70 years, 137 days)

Oldest living Prime Ministers of India

Not all prime ministers live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 11 deceased prime ministers, 6 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 5 did not. Morarji Desai became the oldest living prime minister when he was appointed in 1977 and remained so until his death in 1995, for a record 18 years and 17 days. Lal Bahadur Shastri became the oldest living prime minister when he was appointed in 1964, but he held this distinction for only 1 year and 216 days.

On one occasion the oldest living prime minister lost this distinction not by her death, but due to the appointment of a prime minister who was older. Indira Gandhi lost this distinction when Morarji Desai was appointed. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 87 years, and 341 days. Charan Singh, who was 84 years, and 157 days old when he died was the oldest prime minister to die without ever acquiring this distinction V. P. Singh who died on 27 November 2008 at the age of 77 years and 155 days was the most recent prime minister to die without ever acquiring this distinction .

Prime Minister	Period when oldest living prime minister		Age		Duration
	Start date	End date	at start	at end
Jawaharlal Nehru	15 August 1947	27 May 1964	57 years, 274 days	74 years, 195 days	16 years, 286 days
Lal Bahadur Shastri	9 June 1964	11 January 1966	59 years, 251 days	61 years, 101 days	1 year, 216 days
Indira Gandhi	24 January 1966	24 March 1977	48 years, 66 days	59 years, 125 days	11 years, 59 days
Morarji Desai	24 March 1977	10 April 1995	81 years, 24 days	99 years, 41 days	18 years, 17 days
I. K. Gujral	10 April 1995	30 November 2012	75 years, 127 days	92 years, 362 days	17 years, 234 days
Atal Bihari Vajpayee	30 November 2012	16 August 2018	87 years, 341 days	93 years, 234 days	5 years, 259 days
Manmohan Singh	16 August 2018	–	85 years, 324 days	–	2 years, 169 days
Prime Minister	Start date	End date	Age at start	Age at end	Duration

See also

• Prime Minister of India
• President of India

References

1. Died in office on this date.