TOKYO, 17th September, 2024 (WAM) -- The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan was estimated at a record 95,119 in September, marking an increase for the 54th year in a row, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday, quoting the health ministry data.
The total number of centenarians as of 15th September, was up 2,980 from a year earlier, with females accounting for 88.3 percent at 83,958, the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry said one day after the Respect for the Aged Day national holiday.
Japan boasts one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world. Male centenarians totalled 11,161, with the oldest man being 110-year-old Kiyotaka Mizuno. Mizuno, a resident of Shizuoka Prefecture, was born on March 14, 1914.
The average number of centenarians per 100,000 people in Japan stood at 76.49.
The number of centenarians in Japan stood at 153 in 1963, when data were first collected. The figure surpassed 1,000 in 1981 and topped the 10,000 mark in 1998, in part due to medical advances.