The population of England and Wales aged 100 and over has reached a new high, after doubling in size in the past two decades, figures show. There were an estimated 15,330 centenarians alive last year, up 4% from 14,800 in 2023, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The figure has jumped just over 100% in 20 years, having stood at 7,630 in 2004. It is also up by more than a third (38%) in the past five years. Much of this rapid growth is a legacy of the spike in babies born in the years immediately after the end of the First World War in 1918.

This led to a sharp rise in the number of people turning 100 in 2020 and 2021. The volume of births started to drop in the early 1920s, which has resulted in smaller increases in the number of people reaching 100 in the past few years.

Kerry Gadsdon of the ONS said: "Despite a steady decline in numbers of births after the post-World War One peak, the number of centenarians has continued to grow. This is largely because of past improvements in mortality, going back many decades, with more people surviving to older ages.

"These improvements are because of factors such as advances in medical treatments and improvements in living standards and public health."

There continues to be a large gap between females and males among centenarians in England and Wales, the ONS data shows. Some 12,500 women were estimated to be 100 or over last year, compared with 2,830 men - the equivalent of 4.4 females for every one male.

However the gap has decreased over time and is now at its narrowest since comparable data began in 2002. A decade ago in 2014, there were 5.7 female centenarians for every one male, while two decades ago in 2004 the figure was 8.1. The gap has narrowed due to a growing number of men living to a very old age.

While the number of female centenarians has increased 17% in the past decade, there was a 55% jump for males. This trend is also reflected in the figures for people aged 90 and over. The population of England and Wales living to 90 or older stood at 563,610 in 2024, up 2% on the previous year and - as with the number of centenarians - a new all-time high.

The total is up 13% since 2014 and 53% since 2004. But while there are currently twice as many women aged 90 and over (373,910) than men (189,700), the ratio has narrowed: 10 years ago there were 2.5 females in this age group for every one male, and two decades ago the figure was 3.1.

There were 532,640 people in England last year aged 90 or over, of whom 14,510 were centenarians - both the highest numbers since records began. Some 30,970 people in Wales were 90 or older, of whom 830 were centenarians - again, a record high.

It is the first year-on-year rise for centenarians in Wales since 2021. Figures for the total elderly population of the UK will be published by the ONS later in the year.