Number of centenarians in Japan surpasses 92,000 for first time

TOKYO - The number of centenarians in Japan surpassed 92,000 for the first time, hitting a record high for the 53rd consecutive year, a government report showed on Friday.

The number of people over 100 rose by 1,613 from a year earlier to 92,139, the Ministry of Health in Tokyo said, reported German news agency (dpa).

According to the latest survey, around 88 per cent of all centenarians are women. Life expectancy for women in Japan is around 87 years, for men around 81 years.

Japan has seen a rapid increase in the number of centenarians since the government first counted 153 over-100s in 1963. The number exceeded 10,000 in 1998 and 50,000 in 2012, according to official figures.

Japan is facing an increased demographic burden after decades of rapid ageing and declining birth rates. The world's third-largest economy is ageing faster than any other industrialised nation.

Japan's population is also shrinking at a record pace: last year, the number of Japanese fell by 801,000 from the previous year to just 122.4 million, the sharpest decline since comparable data began to be recorded. - BERNAMA-dpa