Report: The Number of U.K. Centenarians Will Triple in a Generation

Longevity

It turns out there was a post-World War I Baby Boom, too — and they're still here. Photo: FG Trade/Getty Images

Longevity may be the most important trend we’ve ever experienced. It’s driven by — and in turn, it affects — everything from health to housing, money to technology, lifestyle to social policy. There’s so much to be aware of — and it’s just getting started! Now you can keep up with all the latest developments in this weekly column.

 

An interesting report suggests that the number of centenarians in the U.K. will triple by 2050.

There was already a record high number — 15,120 — in 2020. But that number will explode — 20,000 by 2030,  29,000 by 2040 and 51,000 by 2050.

Going back to the 2020 number, one interesting factoid that I wasn’t really aware of was that there was a Baby Boom following the First World War, with extra thousands being born in the early 1920s.

This is all just one more confirmation of the reality of longevity. While the centenarian angle is certainly the most interesting and provocative, the real impact is in the total number of “older” people and the share of population they represent. By 2050, almost one in five residents of the U.K. (the actual projection is 18.8 per cent) will be 70 years old or older.

And we’re just getting started. Projections by U.K. government demographers are that 13 per cent of boys and 20 per cent of girls born in 2020 will live to at least 100. This will rise to 21 per cent of boys and 27 per cent of girls born in 2045. Now, add in the 70-, 80- and 90-year-olds who will be alive then and the shift in the demographic balance of the society becomes nothing short of profound.

The implications touch every aspect of life, from health care to the workplace to housing to education. Which is exactly why we’re never running out of material here!

David Cravit is a Vice-President at ZoomerMedia, and Chief Membership Officer of CARP. He is also the author of two books on the “reinvention” of aging. You can check out some of his other writing here.

 

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