The number of centenarians in Japan stood at 95,119 as of Sunday, hitting a record high for the 54th year in a row, the health ministry said Tuesday.
The figure, drawn from the basic resident register system, grew by 2,980 from a year before. Women accounted for 83,958, or about 88% of the total.
Japan had 153 centenarians in 1963, when the country began recording the statistics. The number exceeded 1,000 in 1981, 10,000 in 1998, 50,000 in 2012 and 90,000 in 2022.
The number of centenarians among each 100,000 people in the population was calculated to be 76.49.
Among the country's 47 prefectures, the rate was highest in Shimane, at 159.54, marking the 12th consecutive year that the prefecture topped the rankings. It was followed by Kochi, at 154.20, and Kagoshima, at 130.73.
The rate was lowest in Saitama, at 45.81, followed by Aichi, at 48.80, and Chiba, at 52.60.
Japan's oldest woman is Tomiko Itooka, a 116-year-old in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, while the oldest man is 110-year-old Kiyotaka Mizuno of Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture.
The number of people turning 100 during fiscal 2024, which runs through next March, stands at 47,888. They will be gifted a congratulatory letter and a silver cup.
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