How Many People Live to 100 Across the Globe?

By: Steven Goodman - Updated: 18 Aug 2019 | *Discuss Tweet

If you have been following these pages then you have already come to find out that centenarians, people who reach the age of 100 years or more, are currently the fastest growing part of the population. You have learned a little about where they live, how they live, and have taken away maybe one or two of their secrets. So you may now be wondering just how many centenarians are there currently living on this planet we call home? Current estimates put the figure of total centenarians worldwide at about 450,000. Exact numbers may be difficult to determine, since many centenarians live in developing or outlying areas, where census data is not often available. However the numbers of centenarians in industrialized nations are still rather impressive.

The West

In total numbers the United States has the most centenarians with currant estimates as high as 72,000. If the population of centenarians continues to increase at its current rate of expansion there could be close to 1 million people of 100 years of age or more by 2050 residing in the US. In the UK while the overall numbers of centenarians are much smaller the trend is the same. The Office of National Statistics reports around 9000 centenarians today in The UK and Wales, a 90-fold increase since 1911, a 7% plus increase since 2005. At the current rate of expansion, UK’s centenarian population could reach over 40,000 by 2031. As in other parts of the industrialized world people over 90 are the fastest growing segment of the population in the UK.

The East

In total numbers of centenarians Japan is second to the US, with a current population of about 30,000. However that number has almost quadrupled in the last 10 years, making the centenarians population in Japan rising more dramatically then anywhere else. At its current rate of expansion Japan’s population of centenarians may rival that of the United States in sheer numbers in the years ahead. Certainly by 2050 Japan proportionally will have the most centenarians in the world. In proportion to its large population China does not have a high percentage of centenarians, about 7000 officially in the least census. However with the rate of expansion of the population in general in China, and the number of centenarians increasing proportionally, it is estimated that in total numbers China will actually lead the world population of centenarians by 2050, with over 450,000. Since the death of Dominica’s “Ma Pampo”, the “official” world’s oldest person currently resides in Japan, Yone Minigawa at 114.

Everywhere Else

The are many other places in the world that sport high populations of centenarians, many of them claiming to have the “Most Centenarians” (based on their population) in the world. The most recent such claim goes to the Czech Republic where a just completed census says that it has 673 centenarians in the small country. Other countries with large centenarian populations include:

Spain – 10,000

France – Over 3000

Canada – Roughly 5000

Italy – 4500 – 5000

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Share Your Story, Join the Discussion or Seek Advice.. [Add a Comment]

Amar - 18-Aug-19 @ 2:16 PM I am 107. I turn 108 in October. Deal with it.

Marc Z - 14-Jan-19 @ 1:02 AM My mom is 104 1/2 years old. We just flew with her from New York to Florida for a vacation. She is a psychotherapist and still sees a few patients. She has no medical problems, (other than that she is 104). She takes almost no medications.She was born on the week of the beginning of World War I.

VOX - 17-Jan-18 @ 9:15 PM Do someone know totally how many old people from 104 years age and to the oldest one living on earth now?

Dharmesh - 26-Oct-17 @ 4:01 PM My grand mother age is above 110. I am come from RATANPURA, UMRETH ANAND GUJARAT ,INDIA. At the age of 110 the daily routine work done by herself. And they provide the insprerssion of young generation that how to live the life.

CYNTHIA - 1-Jun-17 @ 2:32 AM WILL HAVE HER 101 BIRTHDAYAUGUST 15 ,2017

Ruth - Your Question: Just about to celebrate my grandma's 105th birthday in June Still going strong after a life of hard work, fresh air and talking nonstop to strangers !!now she lives In a home, but the party will definitely be a good one ;) Our Response: Wow congratulations to your grandma! TheCentenarian - 15-May-17 @ 11:09 AM Wow congratulations to your grandma!

Ruth - 15-May-17 @ 2:00 AM Just about to celebrate my grandma's 105th birthday in June Still going strong after a life of hard work, fresh air and talking nonstop to strangers !!now she lives In a home, but the party will definitely be a good one ;)

Mazbro - 27-Jan-17 @ 12:01 PM Google you tube "Dr George Church" , several 10 minute videos from this Award Winning Harvard and MIT Professor, explain the latest Genetic Medicine that is testing life extension. He explains that the Genomes of all Americans over 100 are currently being collected and analyzed in an attempt to discover if common genes among centegenarians can be added to us all.

Craw - 26-Jan-17 @ 5:47 PM My aunt, Sylvia Duck, who lives in Somerset, was 104 on 22nd January. (2017). She is well and chatty. She walks without help on a frame and lives at home with full time care. She remembers as a small child, talking to First World War soldiers who were recuperating after injury in her town of Malmesbury, and who my grandmother along with other locals, would invite for tea, to give them some normality. She has a good memory for past times and loves to remember her schooldays.

sugu - 6-Aug-16 @ 5:36 AM It's not the quantity (longevity) of life is important. It's the quality that makes the difference. If one is a centinarian and his faculties are intact, he is truly blessed.

Dr. Sam - 2-Mar-16 @ 4:45 PM One person's old man is another's long life, depending on which side of pendulum you stand.

amanda - 25-Feb-16 @ 6:28 PM I understand that the island of Dominica, in the caribbean has the most people per capita over 100 years, and they are still alert, doing own care and cooking. No dementia or alzhemiers

mikehunt - 3-Dec-15 @ 7:46 PM i am 113 years old. everyday i run 35 miles and do 4 hours of intense calisthenics including 1000 burpees and 500 one finger pull ups, i can lift a small toyota over my head and walk 40 yards. i have memorized the brittanica encyclopedia.i lucid dream every night and meet the impotentate avatars who exist in the supra celestial realms and they taught me forbidden knowledge of how to grow your own Garden of Eden vegetables along the synchronic cosmic neo-platonic metaphysical energies of the ley lines which helped me harvest 80 pound turnips and my small calvary of pygmy attack giraffes. when not levitating on my carpet during my 100 day annual fast, i am teaching dolphins how to develop their opposable thumbs and have guaranteed a contract with the gorrillas for lunar temple construction in adoration of the negentropic balancing principle of the Tao-Chi-kun-la-di-da. Music and beauty, symmetry and repitition are your mortal prisons. you search for keys that have no locks, your little ones dashed upon the rocks.

Selvan - 6-Dec-14 @ 9:02 PM My father was born on the 14th January 1912 and died on the 14th November 2014 in Sri Lanka. My father was a cigar smoker till the age of sixty five years old and he switched to chewing tobacco leaf till the age ofninety two years old. He has been blessed with eight children and had a healthy life. Until the day of death, he eat had three times a day meal and snacks. He never took any medication for blood pressure or diabetics or cholesterol. He even had cognac with his coffee twice a week. Father's full name: Mr Vellupillai Thambu native of Varany, Northern Sri Lanka. He was aMaths teacher and did farming after retirement.

TheCentenarian - 30-Oct-14 @ 2:20 PM @RAS. Just shows, there's no ultimate secret to a long life!

RAS - 28-Oct-14 @ 2:21 PM George Thompson of Kingston, Jamaica is 104 years young. He was born on January 2nd, 1910. He still smokes cigars, tobacco and uses marijuana tea only. He is skilled in masonry, carpentry and tailoring. Loves pork, green teas & coffee. Never been sick, never visit a dentist. His journey of a long life! Praises to most High.

kkSteele - 9-Mar-14 @ 12:39 PM Live to 110... Well that's better than the alternative

kallu - 18-Aug-13 @ 10:24 AM i would like to know the people who ;live for 100 years what must be their diet and also what medical problems can be faced by them??

- - 18-Aug-13 @ 10:19 AM i have to know about the people who live till 100 years what must be their diet? and what can be the medical problems they must have face?

nostradomus - 22-May-13 @ 7:08 PM My grandmother is 104 years young and lives in saskatchewan, canada. Born in Guangdong province, China. Never ate processed food, grew her own vegetables, boiled her water and always active. Never touched alcohol or smoked...Thats the secret! Congrats to all Centenarians!

Jimmy - 18-Sep-12 @ 1:06 AM I am looking for the exact figure on how many people are Over the age of 100 in the State of Connecticut. I need this info For a school project. Thank You.

Dave R - 6-Jun-12 @ 6:43 PM These figures will inevitably rise as more people live past the 100 mark. If we're to believe what we read then it could become quite commonplace over the next century, not the achievement it still appears to be. Although the figures have risen quite a bit, they look set to take a jump over the next two generations, so 110+ might not seem the real rarity it is these days. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, though, remains to be seen.