Blowing out 100 or more candles on a birthday cake used to be an extraordinary event, but today it is becoming increasingly common. According to statistics, the number of centenarians keeps rising. Spain, one of the countries with the highest longevity rates in the world, has 19,639 people over the age of 100, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Centenarian Women: The Overwhelming Majority
Of these centenarians, a remarkable 77% are women. This phenomenon is not unique to Spain. Globally, according to the UN Population Division, there were 621,000 people aged 100 or older in 2021, a stark contrast to the 92,000 recorded in 1990. This increase highlights the advancements in nutrition, hygiene, healthcare, education, and economic progress that have contributed to extending human life.
Longevity in Numbers
The life expectancy in Spain currently averages 83 years (80.3 years for men and 85.8 years for women). This figure has improved significantly over recent decades: in the year 2000, it stood at 79 years, and in the 1990s, it was 76 years. This progress reflects over a century of overcoming barriers to longevity.
An intriguing statistic comes from a study published in Nature Aging, which identified Hong Kong as the place with the highest probability of longevity. According to 2019 mortality data, 12.84% of women and 4.4% of men in the region reach or exceed 100 years of age.
What Drives Longer Lives?
Various studies attribute the rise in longevity to factors such as:
- Improved nutrition.
- Advances in medicine and healthcare technology.
- Greater awareness of the importance of hygiene.
- Education and access to quality healthcare.
- Economic development that provides better living conditions.
For those interested in learning more about this phenomenon, you can read the original article at ABC: Longevity expert highlights the common trait of people who live longer.
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