LONDON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of people in Britain aged 90 and over has reached its highest ever level at 571,245, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the number of people aged 100 or over has reached 14,910, a dramatic rise over the past 30 years with the number more than quadrupling since 1986 when there were 3,642 centenarians. Most centenarians are women, with five females aged 100 and over for every male centenarian in 2016.
The main driver of Britain's population ageing in recent decades has been improving mortality rates at all ages, but particularly at older ages, said ONS.
Improvements in survival in the older age groups are due to a combination of factors such as improved medical treatments, housing and living standards, nutrition, and changes in the population's smoking habits.
While older women continue to outnumber older men, the difference has narrowed in all 90-plus age groups.
Wales has the highest proportion of those aged 90 and over, at 951 per 100,000, followed by England at 883, Scotland at 760, and Northern Ireland at 684.
Ngaire Coombs from the demographic analysis unit at ONS said that despite the population aged 90 and over growing rapidly in recent years, people of this age group still make up less than 1 percent of the total UK population.
