Watch: Jacinda Ardern, Sanna Marin give fitting reply to reporter's sexist question

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin (L) shakes hands with New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a bilateral meeting in Auckland.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Finland counterpart Sanna Marin gave a fitting reply to a reporter who asked them if the two world leaders are meeting because they’re similar in age.

The question was asked at a media briefing in Auckland during Marin’s official visit to New Zealand.

"A lot of people will be wondering are you two meeting just because you're similar in age and got a lot of common stuff there, when you got into politics and stuff. What Kiwis,” a male reporter asked.

Jacinda Ardern, 42, interrupted him, saying she wondered "whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age."

Watch NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pick apart this reporter's question during a joint press conference with Finnish PM Sanna Marin. He asked the pair 'are you two meeting because you're similar in age and got a lot of common stuff there?'
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“We, of course, have a higher proportion of men in politics, it's reality. Because two women meet, it is not simply because of their gender."

Arden said Finland exports into New Zealand NZ $199 million worth of exports and cited examples of trade deals between the two countries.

“Yeah, now we are meeting because we are prime ministers, of course,” Sanna Marin, 37, said.

In 2017, Ardern became New Zealand's youngest prime minister at 36 when she took office through a coalition deal after an inconclusive election. The next year, she became the second prime minister in the world - after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto - to give birth while in office, later taking her daughter onto the floor of the UN Assembly in New York.

Marin was appointed as Finland Prime Minister in 2019 at the age of 34. She was not only the youngest prime minister of the northern European nation, but the youngest head of state of an country in the world.

Earlier this year, videos of her partying with friends surfaced on social media, sparking a controversy. She was eventually cleared of misconduct following an official inquiry. The probe concluded that Marin had not neglected her duties as prime minister.

At the time of the scandal, Marin said she spent "an evening with friends" and that the videos were "filmed in private premises".

"I am human. And I too sometimes long for joy, light and fun amidst these dark clouds," she said.