India to Outdo China in Centenarian Race: UN Study

China has 14,300 centenarians which is expected to rise to 2.6lakhs by 2050.There has been a gradual increase in the rate of people aged 100 and above. The report shows an increase in the age too, from 103 in 1798 to 110 years in 1898, 115 years in 1990 and 122.45 years in 1997, a record held by a Frenchwomen, as reported by Kounteya Sinha for TOI

India is closest to Japan with it number of centenaries, and will be 6.17lakhs by 2050 out of whom 5, 00,000 are women. This number comes as a surprise as India is still considered to be a young country.

The report shows it’s the older population which is ageing; the oldest old, which is 100 and above, have increased in number rapidly and the number continues to persist. As per the report, the overall ageing in the world has differences in the speed of ageing over the decades. It’s happening fast in developing countries. There are two out of three people aged above 60 or over living in developing countries and the number will be four to five by 2050 living in developing countries.

The cause for ageing is a better survival rate, marked by better medical facilities with decline in fertility rate and lower infant mortality. There is a drop by half in total fertility rate per women, which was five in 1950-1955 to 2.5 children in 2010-2015, still expecting to decline in future. The life expectancy has been increasing over the years, which is not a surprise, even in developing countries. It is 78 years in developed countries and 68 years in developing regions form 2010-2015.