NI now has 274 centenarians as population keeps ageing

THERE are now 274 people living in Northern Ireland aged over 100 years old — around one for every 10,000 people in the province.

New research from Northern Ireland’s official statistics body NISRA shows a 2% year-on-year growth in 2017 — or 700 more over-85s than in 2016.

While the increase might seem insignificant, it’s part of a trend over the past decade which has seen the population aged over 85 grow by a third, increasing by 9,200 people between 2007 and 2017.

From mid-2016 to mid-2017 600 people aged over 85 died while 6,700 people celebrated their 85th birthday.

This growth is five times faster than any other section of the population, and the population in the oldest age category in Northern Ireland now stands at 37,200.

Women are still living longer than men and almost 90% of centenarians in Northern Ireland are female.

In 2017, there were a total of 14,430 over-100s living across the United Kingdom.

The statistics show there are still twice as many NI females over 85 as male, though the gap is beginning to close. Around 12,500 over-85s are male, a rise of over 50% over the last decade, while around 24,600 are female, a rise of 25% since 2007.

According to Linda Robinson, Age NI Chief Executive, if current trends continue, then by 2028 the number of people over 65 could overtake the number of children aged 0-15 for the first time ever here.

“Lots of older people contribute to our society in many ways, supporting and caring for their families, volunteering in their community, as employees and as taxpayers,” she said. “Not only can we all hope and expect to live longer lives, the overall population in Northern Ireland is also ageing.

“By mid-2028 the proportion of the population aged 65 and over is projected to be 20.1%, overtaking that of children aged 0-15 years old.

“This presents opportunities and challenges for our society, for employers and the economy, housing, our welfare, health and social care systems.

“It’s time to give serious consideration to how to address the consequences of our changing population and meet the needs of everyone of all ages in it.

“We can all play our part by doing what we can to stay as well as possible by keeping active, eating well, being a good neighbour, maintaining our social networks and friendships, financially preparing and by challenging ageist assumptions about older people and ageing.”

The situation across the UK reflects that of Northern Ireland, with a growing number of older people.

However, growth in the over85 age group in Northern Ireland still lags behind the rest of the UK.

Wales has seen a 2.6% rise, England 2.4% and Scotland 2.2% when compared to the 2% increase in Northern Ireland.

The UK’s Office of National Statistics has recorded an 85% increase in the number of centenarians over the past 15 years — albeit with a decrease between 2016 and 2018 due to lower birth numbers during the First World War.

While there are more of us now in the upper age category of over-85s, another new survey from the Office for National Statistics shows not all of us should necessarily expect to live longer as the rise in average life expectancy has come to a halt.

A girl born in the UK between 2015 and 2017 is expected to live until 82.9 years old — no change on the previous figure for 201416. The figure for baby boys is also unchanged, at 79.2 years.

In fact, the life expectancy of males in Northern Ireland has fallen, by 0.1 years to 78.4, with the figure for women remaining unchanged at 82.3 years.

Scotland has the lowest UK life expectancy, with 77 years for males and 81.1 years for females. England has the highest — 79.5 years for males and 83.1 years for females.