Nearly 1 in 1,500 people in Japan is now aged 100 or older, new data from the Japanese government shows.
Figures from Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry show the number of centenarians went above 80,000 for the first time this year – the 50th consecutive annual increase and the biggest rise to date.
There were 80,450 people aged 100 and over as of Tuesday – 9,176 more than last year – which equates to one in every 1,565 people.
The numbers show that women in Japan are far more likely than men to live for a century or more, making up 88% of all centenarians.
Japan has a rapidly aging population and average life expectancy across the country is also at a record high.
On average, women are expected to live to 87.45 years and men are expected to live to 81.41, government figures released in July showed.
Japan began documenting the number of centenarians in 1963.
At the time there were only 153 people aged 100 or over in the country. But 1988, that had ballooned to 10,000.
Secret to longevity
Japan’s oldest person, 117-year-old Kane Tanaka from Fukuoka, was confirmed as the world’s oldest person by Guinness World Records last year.
She was born in 1903 – the year aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright made history by successfully completing the world’s first powered flight.
She now lives in a nursing home, where she usually wakes at 6 a.m, and enjoys playing the strategic board game Othello.
Tanaka has said that eating good food and practicing math are her secrets for a long life.
