Number of years the leader in office continuously

QoG code: wgov_leadexp

The number of years the person has been leader of the country in a row, continuous. Thus, it starts over if the leader is removed. The count starts at 1, when the leader first appear as leader in the dataset. Therefore, the measure is imprecise for leaders, who came to power before 1966.

Type of variable
Continuous
Downloaded by QoG on
2025-10-15
Last updated by source
2025-08-26
Details of this variable in our compilation datasets
Dataset No. Countries
Standard cross-section 170
Standard time-series 176
OECD cross-section 32
OECD time-series 32
Dataset Available for years
Standard time-series 1963-2023
OECD time-series 1966-2023

Country coverage

Click here to see the full list of countries
  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Benin
  • Bhutan
  • Bolivia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Cape Verde
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Chile
  • China
  • Colombia
  • Comoros
  • Congo
  • Congo, Democratic Republic
  • Costa Rica
  • Cote d'Ivoire
  • Croatia
  • Cuba
  • Cyprus (1975-)
  • Czech Republic
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Denmark
  • Djibouti
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Estonia
  • Eswatini (former Swaziland)
  • Ethiopia (1993-)
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • France (1963-)
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Germany, East
  • Ghana
  • Greece
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Korea, North
  • Korea, South
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia (1966-)
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Malta
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Moldova
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar
  • Namibia
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan (1971-)
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Rwanda
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Serbia and Montenegro
  • Sierra Leone
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sudan (2012-)
  • Suriname
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Syria
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Timor-Leste
  • Togo
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • USSR
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Uruguay
  • Uzbekistan
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
  • Yemen, South
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

Year coverage

This variable has information from 1963 to 2023.