LONDON – Over the last 30 years, England and Wales have jointly recorded a five-fold increase in the number of centenarians in its population.
Data released by UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) says that in 2011, the number of centenarians (those aged 100 and over) in England and Wales was estimated to be 11,700. Of them, 570 were estimated to be aged 105 or more.
In 2011 there were estimated to be 440,290 people aged 90 and over living in England and Wales, around 1% of the total population.
ONS compared UK’s 90 and over population with India and China and found that while nearly 800 per 1 lakh population here were above 90 and above, the number stood at just 75 for India and 150 for China. India according to the list prepared by ONS is the youngest nation.
It says “Countries with emerging economies such as China and India have relatively low numbers of persons aged 90 and over per 100,000 population. They have younger age profiles and also have lower life expectancies than nations that have been developed for a longer period of time.”
Although those aged 90 and above may account for a small proportion of the population in UK, over the last three decades, the number of those aged 90 and over has almost tripled.
Between 2002 and 2011 alone, there was a 26% increase. There are more women aged 90 and over than men. This is because females have longer life expectancy than males.
However over the last 30 years the percentage increase in the number of men of this age has been greater than for women, narrowing the gap between the sexes.
In 1981 for example, there were 4.0 women per man aged 90 and over. By 2002 this had reduced to 3.3 and by 2011 the ratio was 2.7 women per man aged 90 and over.
The number of older people in a country’s population is largely a result of past fertility patterns coupled with life expectancy for that country, while recent fertility patterns influence the relative proportions of younger and older people. Past major events such as war will also affect numbers and proportions.
Even in the most aged countries, the population aged 90 and over represents a very small proportion of the overall population. In 2010, at 44.7 years, Japan had the highest median age of all countries in the world; however only 1.1% of the population was aged 90 and over in 2011.
Japan had by far the highest number of persons aged 90 and over per 100,000 population in 2011 at 1,131. With the exception of Japan, Sweden and Italy had above average numbers aged 90 and over per 100,000 population. In Sweden there were 988 persons aged 90 and over per 100,000 population and in Italy (2012) the equivalent figure was 908.
Germany and Iceland had lower than average numbers of persons aged 90 and over; 592 per 100,000 in Germany and 480 per 100,000 in Iceland. B
Eastern European countries tend to have lower numbers of people aged 90 and over per 100,000 population than Western European countries.
For example, in Bulgaria in 2011 there were 318 persons aged 90 and over per 100,000; in the Czech Republic the figure was 304 and in Croatia 302.
Australia, New Zealand and the United States have lower numbers of persons aged 90 and over per 100,000 population than many countries in Western Europe.
Africa is the least aged region of the world owing to both higher fertility and much lower life expectancy than other world regions. The average number of persons aged 90 and over for the continent as a whole is 26 per 100,000.
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