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| Centenarians reach a record high | Centenarians reach a record high |
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| The number of people living beyond 100 years has reached a record high in England and Wales, according to official figures. | The number of people living beyond 100 years has reached a record high in England and Wales, according to official figures. |
| The Office for National Statistics says there are now 9,000 "centenarians" - a 90-fold increase since 1911. | The Office for National Statistics says there are now 9,000 "centenarians" - a 90-fold increase since 1911. |
| Estimates suggest this will carry on rising to 40,000 by 2031. | Estimates suggest this will carry on rising to 40,000 by 2031. |
| The rapid increase in the number of very elderly people began in the 1950s and is due to improvements in housing, healthcare, nutrition and sanitation. | The rapid increase in the number of very elderly people began in the 1950s and is due to improvements in housing, healthcare, nutrition and sanitation. |
| The proportion of the population above the age of 70 has been rising steadily, and is expected to rise further. | |
| Experts say this is likely to place a far greater burden on the health service, as the costs of catering for diseases of the elderly such as cancer and dementia rise too. | |
| The same increases have been happening in other industrialised countries, the ONS says. | |
| There used to be proportionately more female to male centenarians - seven women for every man. | |
| However but this ratio is now beginning to fall as survival to this age becomes more common. | |
| Recent improvements in death rates have been greater for men than for women. | |
| Although the rate at which the number of centenarians increased actually fell between 1981 and 2000, this reflects a slowing down in the birth rate a century earlier, rather than a worsening of the lifestyle and living conditions which contribute to long life. | |
| There were only 100 centenarians in 1911 - up to 1940, the annual increase was 1.9%, rising to approximately 6% between 1941 and the 1990s, 4.5% during the 1990s and 5.8% since 2002. | |
| The ONS expects that the number of over-100s in England and Wales will rise an average of 6% per year, quadrupling the current number by the 2030s. |