The number of centenarians in Japan is estimated to have reached a record 92,139, led by women, who account for 88.5% of the total with the world's longest life expectancy, welfare ministry data showed Friday.
The number of those aged 100 or older as of Friday was up 1,613 from a year earlier for the 53th consecutive annual rise, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said ahead of the Respect for the Aged Day holiday next Monday.
There were an average 73.74 centenarians per 100,000 people in Japan, one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world.
Female centenarians totaled 81,589, up 1,428 from a year earlier. Japan's oldest woman was 116-year-old Fusa Tatsumi from Osaka Prefecture.
The average life expectancy of Japanese women was 87.09 years in 2022, the ministry said last month. The average life span of men stood at 81.05 years.
Male centenarians are estimated to have increased by 185 from a year earlier to 10,550. The country's oldest man was 111-year-old Gisaburo Sonobe from Chiba Prefecture.
The number of centenarians in Japan stood at 153 in 1963, when data were first collected. The figure topped the 10,000 mark in 1998, largely due to advances in medical care and nursing.