Century boys and girls: Those over 100 the fastest growing age group in UK.

Figures reveal two from every 10,000 people are living to see their century

Centenarians are the fastest growing age group in the UK, with the number of 100-year-olds almost doubling over a 14-year period, latest figures show.

Some two out of every 10,000 people have lived to see their 100th birthday or more, or 14,910 in 2016, up from 7,750 in 2002. Female centenarians outnumber males by five to one.

Last year, there were also more than 571,000 people aged at least 90 years old – the most ever recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The boost in the number of people living into much older years is partly down to a baby boom following the First World War. Factors including better healthcare and nutrition, improved living standards and less smoking also contribute to higher rates of ageing.

Ngaire Coombs, an ONS statistician, said: “The population aged 90 and over grew rapidly in recent years, but this was largely driven by people who were born during the post World War One baby boom reaching age 90 and progressing through the oldest ages, causing both population growth Perthshire is home to Scotland’s oldest man and one of the country’s oldest women.

Alf Smith, who lives in the Carse of Gowrie, can also lay a joint claim to the UK title as he was born on the same day as Englishborn Bob Weighton – both were born on March 29, 1908 – making them 109 years 183 days old.

Jessie Sinclair is Perthshire’s oldest woman but at 107 years 175 days is almost a full year younger then Scotland’s oldest woman – Flo Smith of Bearsden.

She has lived in the Dunkeld for most of her life.

Scotland’s second oldest man resides in Fife.

James Crombie was born on July 11, 1909 in Dunfermline. and ageing within this age group.”

The likelihood of men surviving into their nineties has more than quadrupled since the early 1980s, and now stands at 21%. For women, it has more than doubled in the same time period, to 32%.

Statisticians also found a “wave-like effect” among nonagenarians, thought to be a consequence of fluctuating birth rates during and after the First World War.

However, the rate of increase in the share of the population living to age 90 has slowed to 0.3%, as a result of slowing life span growth overall.

The latest figures for life expectancy at birth are 79.2 for men and 82.9 for women.

Statistics published by the National Records of Scotland show life expectancy for those born in 2014 to 2016 was 77.1 years for men and 81.2 years for women.

Tim Ellis, the Registrar General of Scotland, said: “The statistics published today show life expectancy has steadily improved over the past three decades, increasing by eight years for males and 5.9 years for females, and the gap between male and female life expectancy has also decreased.”

Jane Ashcroft CBE, chief executive of housing charity Anchor, which hosts more than 160 centenarians in its retirement homes, said: “It’s fantastic to hear that so many of us are now living into our hundreds in the UK, and it’s important we celebrate that we are living longer thanks to medical advances and better living conditions.”

Clockwise from main picture: Scotland’s oldest man, Alfred Smith 109, who resides in St Madoes, Mrs Jessie Sinclair, of Dunkeld, who is 107-years-old and James Crombie, from Dunfermline, who is 108 years young.