GLOBAL CENTENARIANS IN THE TOP 20 COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

GLOBAL CENTENARIANS IN THE TOP 20 COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

Japan stands at the head of the table with maximum number of Centenarians among the top 20 countries of the World. India is 12 times the population of Japan but is only 1/3rd of Japan in terms of its centenarian population. This calls us for more work not only on longer life span but also on longer health span in our country.

A plethora of determinants of centenarians’ longevity ranging from lifestyles, social enrichment to moderate eating and restorative sleep have been reported. Non-traditional factors like spirituality, optimism, resilience and sense of purpose in life have frequently been cited as additional traits of centenarians.

 Following is one of the recent studies on Centenarians in India published in 2025 wherein data from the Wave-1 of the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India was utilized. (International Institute of Population Sciences, An autonomous Organization of the Ministry of Health).

Rajpal, S., Joe, W., Ronanki, S. et al. Centenarians and near-centenarians in India: empirical insights on health and well-being characteristics. GeroScience 47, 6941–6953 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01755-x