The veteran leader will mark the day with a public celebration on Saturday.
Last year's party was a massive feast with several elephants slaughtered and seven gigantic birthday cakes, one weighing 91 kilogrammes.
Today, state media lauded Mugabe for his leadership since independence from Britain in 1980, while the opposition urged him to consider stepping down.
In its 16-page special birthday supplement, the Sunday Mail described Mugabe as a "doyen of pan-Africanism".
"Long live comrade Mugabe" read another message, adding: "We pride ourselves in your visionary, bold, insightful and fearless leadership."
But the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said Mugabe should think about whether his country, which is in the grips of an economic crisis, would not be better served by his bowing out.
"Robert Mugabe should take time to reflect and say isn't it time for me to pass on the baton," MDC spokesman Obert Gutu told AFP.
Mugabe once quipped that he would rule until he turns 100.
Despite his age, he continues to give lengthy speeches in public, but his frailty was laid bare last year when he tripped and fell down steps at a televised ceremony.
He also courted ridicule in September by reading a speech to parliament, apparently unaware that he had delivered the same address a month earlier.
His government is accused of systematic human rights abuses and tipping the country into a severe crisis through a campaign of violent land seizures.
He became prime minister on Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980 and then president in 1987.
