If you want to reach your 100th birthday and receive a telegram from the King, one biological difference could prove key to your success.
Women are almost five times as likely to become centenarians than men, official figures revealed today.
Some 12,500 women across England and Wales reached the milestone in 2024.
By contrast, just over 2,800 men hit 100 across the two nations, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
It also means the number of centenarians has more than doubled since 2002, with 15,330 last year.
Experts believe women may outlive men currently because of historically high smoking and drinking levels among men.
Women are also more likely to have cardiovascular disease and cancer—Britain’s two biggest killers—treated more effectively than men.
Research too has suggested women may have stronger immune systems than men and great resilience to infections than older men.
Professor Amitava Banerjee, an expert in clinical data science and honorary consultant cardiologist at University College London, told the Daily Mail: ‘Historically, smoking rates in men have been much, much higher than women.
‘We’re likely seeing the effects of that and the smoking rates in that generation’.
He added: ‘At a population level, as the biggest killers are cancer and cardiovascular disease, either women are getting them less or they’re having their disease treated better.
‘The mortality of heart attacks has vastly changed and people are more likely to survive now.
‘In the 1990s, women were less likely to get stents, for example, because they didn’t complain about their chest pain as much so were less likely to be taken seriously and treated.
‘That may have been due to a direct or indirect bias, education has got a lot better over my professional career.
‘It’s not necessarily also down to men being less likely to come forwards for treatment. That’s not been my experience and I haven’t seen data to reflect that either.’
However, he told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s not quite as simple as women just living longer. I believe the most important part is quality of life.
The oldest living person in the world is now believed to be Ethel Caterham, from Surrey, who was born on August 21, 1909 and is 116 years old
‘We’re still focusing on living longer lives but what we should be asking is, is there a sex difference on the levels of dependence of those 100-year-olds.
‘Are women more or less likely to be physically fine?’
According to the ONS data, there were an estimated 15,330 centenarians alive last year, up 4 per cent from 14,800 in 2023.
It marks an increase of more than a third (38 per cent) in the past five years.
While the number of female centenarians has increased 17 per cent in the past decade, there has also been a 55 per cent 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 per cent on the previous year and—as with the number of centenarians—a new all-time high.
Statisticians claim some of this growth may be due to a 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.
Head of demographic insights at the ONS, Kerry Gadsdon, 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.’
It comes as research last year suggested that life expectancy across the world will rise by almost five years by 2050, with the average man forecasted to live to 76 and woman, past 80.
Global average life expectancy is forecast to increase to around 78.1 years of age in 2050, a rise of 4.5 years, The Lancet Public Health study also found.
At the time, experts said the trend was largely driven by public health measures both preventing and improving survival rates from illnesses including cardiovascular disease, nutritional diseases and maternal and neonatal infections.
Commentators also said the figures present an ‘immense opportunity’ to ‘get ahead of rising metabolic and dietary risk factors’ such as high blood pressure and BMI.
The oldest living person in the world is now believed to be Ethel Caterham, from Surrey, who was born on August 21, 1909 and is 116 years old.
The title of the oldest person to have ever lived belongs to French woman Jeanne Louise Calment whose life spanned 122 years and 164 days.
Ms Caterham, who died in 1997, attributed her longevity to ‘never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like’.
Experts who have studied centenarians agree.
Physical activity, faith, love, companionship, and a sense of purpose make up the backbone of so-called ‘Blue Zones,’ or areas of the world where people typically live to 100 and beyond.
Maintaining an active lifestyle, even simply walking around town every day, has been shown to improve longevity.
Companionship has been shown to have a similarly positive effect on a person’s lifespan, with studies consistently showing loneliness is toxic.
