The population of England and Wales continues to get older on average, the figures show. There were nearly 14,000 centenarians recorded in the 2021 census, up from around 11,000 a decade before.
David Sinclair, chief executive of the International Longevity Centre UK, said one of the main challenges of an ageing population is how to support people to age well.
He said: “We start ageing in the womb so we need to be looking at the young. We need to be thinking about access to education and learning across the whole life so that we can make sure we are prepared for the 100-year life, even if that doesn’t end up being everyone.
“We also need to change the narrative and debate around supporting people to work longer. We need to address challenges like pensioner poverty, shortages in housing and inequalities in health and life expectancy.”
In Leeds, there were 139 people recorded on the census who were at least 100 years old.
Here are the neighbourhoods with the most centenarians, according to the Office for National Statistics. Images are for illustrative purposes only.
1. Otley South
There were nine people aged 100 or over in the Otley South area at the time of the 2021 census. Photo: Gerard Binks
2. Wetherby East & Thorp Arch
There were six people aged 100 or over in the Wetherby East & Thorp Arch area at the time of the 2021 census Photo: Marcus Corazzi
3. Hyde Park Corner & Woodhouse Cliff
There were six people aged 100 or over in the Hyde Park Corner & Woodhouse Cliff area at the time of the 2021 census. Photo: Google
4. Cookridge & Holt Park
There were five people aged 100 or over in the Cookridge & Holt Park area at the time of the 2021 census. Photo: Google
5. Cookridge & Holt Park
There were five people aged 100 or over in the Cookridge & Holt Park area at the time of the 2021 census. Photo: Simon Hulme
6. Horsforth East
There were four people aged 100 or over in the Horsforth East area at the time of the 2021 census. Photo: Tony Johnson