The population of centenarians in Japan has climbed to a record 99,763, the health ministry announced ahead of Respect for the Aged Day on Monday.
The tally released Friday, based on the resident registry system as of Sept. 1, rose 4,644 from a year earlier, marking a new high for the 55th consecutive year. Women accounted for 87,784 centenarians, or about 88% of the total figure.
The number of those age 100 or older has grown steadily since the government began keeping such records in 1963, when only 153 people were registered as being centenarians. The count exceeded 1,000 in 1981, 10,000 in 1998, 50,000 in 2012 and 90,000 in 2022.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.