2014.09.13
Record number of centenarians on Okinawa
Prior to the Respect-for-Senior-Citizens Day on Monday, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that the number of senior citizens over the age of 100 in Japan has increased by 4,423 to 58,820 from last year, a new record. According to the Okinawa Department of Child Care and Social Welfare, the number of centenarians on Okinawa has increased by 39 to 962, which also is a new record high since 1972.
The number of senior people in Okinawa per 100 thousand people is 67.99, which puts the prefecture on the 11th place in Japan. So, Okinawa’s last year rank that was the 8th dropped to the 11th. Okinawa was ranking on the top between 1973 and 2009, however, its ranking has moved down on the list since 2010.
Females comprise 87.1% of the total of the centenarians throughout the country, marking the 44th consecutive year-on-year increase. By gender, as of September 1st, the number of female centenarians increased by 3,628 to 51,234, and the number of males increased by 795 to 7,586 compared to last year.