Estimates of the very old including centenarians UK 2002 to 2024

21st October 2025

Annual mid-year population estimates of people aged 90 years and over by sex and single year of age to 105 years and over, and comparisons between UK countries.

There were an estimated 625,000 people aged 90 years or over in the UK in 2024; this is an increase of 53.7% since 2004, and an increase of 2.2% since mid-2023.

Of the people aged 90 years and over, 84.5% were aged 95 years or younger, although growth has been faster at the oldest ages.

There were 16,600 centenarians (people aged 100 years and over) in the UK in 2024, this has doubled from 8,300 in 2004.

The number of men at older ages is increasing faster than the number of women; between 2004 and 2024 the number of men aged 90 years or over has more than doubled, while the number of women has increased by around one-third.

Men made up one-third (33.7%) of people aged 90 years and over in 2024, and nearly one-fifth (18.5%) of centenarians.

Wales had the highest rate of centenarians (25.9 per 100,000 people) in the UK; the rate of centenarians has increased in all four UK countries.

Population growth of those aged 90 years and over in the UK
The population of people aged 90 years and over has grown substantially over recent decades. Between 2004 and 2024, it increased by over half (53.7%), from 407,000 to 625,000 people. From mid-2023 to mid-2024, the population of people aged 90 years and over increased by 2.2%, from 612,000 to 625,000 people.

The line chart in Figure 1 shows that the number of men aged 90 years and over has increased at a faster rate than the number of women. The number of men aged 90 years and over has more than doubled, from 98,000 in 2004, to 211,000 in 2024. The number of women aged 90 years and over increased by around one-third, from 309,000 in 2004, to 415,000 in 2024.

One in three (33.7%) people aged 90 years and over were men in 2024, compared with fewer than one in four people (24.0%) in 2004.

The changes in the older population are largely explained by improvements in life expectancy and historic birth patterns.

Life expectancy is higher for women, but life expectancy for men has increased faster than that for women, so the gap is narrowing. This has led to the number of older men growing faster than the number of older women. Read about changes to life expectancy in our National life tables bulletin.

The slight decrease in the number of people aged 90 years and over in 2007 and 2008 reflects the low number of births 90 years earlier, during World War One. It is followed by a rapid increase in people aged 90 years and over because of an increase in births immediately following the war.

Centenarians
There were 16,600 centenarians (people aged 100 years and over) in the UK in 2024, this has doubled from 8,300 in 2004. The number of male centenarians has increased faster than the number of female centenarians, having trebled between 2004 and 2024 (from 910 to 3,100). The number of female centenarians almost doubled between 2004 and 2024 (from 7,400 to 13,600).

The area chart in Figure 5 shows that the population of centenarians rapidly increased in 2020 and 2021, following a decrease in the population in the years immediately before. This is explained by a decrease in births in England and Wales 100 years earlier, during World War One (WW1), followed by a rapid increase in births after the war.

The number of births declined in the years immediately following the post-WW1 "baby boom" (a period marked by a substantial increase in births). However, we are still seeing growth in the centenarian population. This recent growth in the centenarian population is largely explained by people living longer.

The number of centenarians has grown at a faster rate than the total population. There were 24.0 centenarians per 100,000 in 2024, an increase from 13.9 per 100,000 in 2004. This means that around one in every 4,200 people in the UK were centenarians in 2024.

Wales and England had higher rates of people aged 100 years and over than Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Wales had the highest rate of centenarians in 2024 (25.9 per 100,000), an increase from 2004 (14.9 per 100,000).

England had the second highest rate (24.7 per 100,000 in 2024 an increase from 14.3 per 100,000 in 2004).

Scotland had 18.4 centenarians per 100,000 in 2024, an increase from 11.0 in 2004.

Northern Ireland had the lowest rate of centenarians in 2024 (15.3 per 100,000), an increase from 8.0 in 2004.

Red the full ONS report HERE