Number of centenarians in Scotland estimated to have passed 1,000

The number of centenarians living in Scotland is estimated to have topped 1,000 for the first time, figures have shown.

By mid-2024 there were an estimated 1,020 people across the country aged 100 or more, data from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) revealed.

That was the sixth consecutive annual increase, with the latest figures showing the number was up by 4% from the mid-2023 total of 980, and up by 12% over the last decade.

The number of Scots estimated to have made it to their 100th birthday has risen from 180 back in 1981, with the total increasing most years since then.

However, MRS said there there was a decline between mid-2016 and mid-2018, followed by a rise between mid-2019 and mid-2021, with this attributed to the impact of the First World War cohort turning 100.

The 2024 figures showed female centenarians outnumbered their male counterparts by more than four to one, with 830 women aged 100 or more, compared to 190 men.

However, the data showed that over the past decade, from mid-2014, the number of male centenarians has grown by 58% while the number of women in this age group has only grown by 5%.

Andrew White, head of population and migration statistics at NRS, said: “Scotland’s population of centenarians is a little over 1,000.

“There were more than four times as many female centenarians as males. However, the number of male centenarians has risen more quickly in the last 10 years and they were the fastest growing group in Scotland.”

He added that estimates on the number of people in the oldest age groups is “important for those planning and providing services such as housing, health and social care”.

NRS estimates also showed that by mid-2024, there were 46,980 people aged 90 and over living in Scotland – with this total having increased by almost a fifth (19%) in the past 10 years.

The number of males in this age group had increased by 47% since mid-2014 to stand at 16,210, the figures showed, with the  number of women aged 90 plus increasing by 8% to 30,770.