Is 100 the new 80? Centenarians are becoming more common

Jul 8, 2020

With the collaboration of Statista.

A retired elderly couple take advantage of the late summer weather in the gardens at the Champs de Mars in Paris, August 26, 2013. France's government, which has been meeting with labour union heads about retirement issues, neared a deal with trade unions on Monday to overhaul the pension system via a slight lengthening of working lives, union chiefs said, as Europe's number two economy sought to bring a spiralling deficit under control. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - PM1E98Q1CHJ01

The US has the highest absolute number of centenarians worldwide. Image: REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Katharina Buchholz

Data Journalist, Statista

Life expectancies around the world have been rising continuously – and so have the number of people living beyond 100.

This year, the United Nations predicts the number of centenarians will rise to 573,000 worldwide.

Japan is the country with the highest rate of centenarians, at 6 for every 10,000 people.

Living a long life is a common wish of many – and some might just get what they wish for. Life expectancies in developed and developing countries alike have been rising continuously, causing the number of people who live to 100 years to rise also.

This year, the United Nations expects the number of centenarians to rise to approximately 573,000 worldwide.

Have you read?

The US has the highest absolute number of centenarians in the world, at 97,000. Japan comes second with 79,000 nationals who are 100 years or older, according to World Atlas. Japan is also where the world’s oldest person lives; Kane Tanaka, from the Fukuoka prefecture is 116 years old making her a so-called supercentenarian – a person living to or beyond the age of 110.

Japan is also the country with the highest rate of centenarians, with 6 for every 10,000 people. Uruguay, Hong Kong and Puerto Rico are home to high numbers of centenarians compared to population size as well.

Coronavirus COVID-19 virus infection China Hubei Wuhan contagion spread economics dow jones S&P 500 stock market crash 1929 depression great recession

Life expectancies in developed and developing countries alike have been rising continuously. Image: United Nations via Statista

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.