Japan's centenarian population grows

More of Japan's population is living past the age of 100, with women making up 87 per cent of the country's centenarians.

The number of centenarians in Japan has grown 6.7 per cent from a year earlier to 65,692 in 2016, hitting a record high for the 46th straight year.

Of the total number of centenarians, women account for 87.6 per cent, the Health Ministry said.

The oldest Japanese woman, Nabi Tajima, is a 116-year-old resident on Kikai Island in Kagoshima prefecture, while the oldest man is Masamitsu Yoshida, 112, in Tokyo.

Japan had only 153 centenarians in 1963 when the ministry started taking data. The figure topped 10,000 in 1998 and the number more than doubled from 32,295 in 2007.

The ministry attributes the increase to growing awareness of health and advancing medical technology.

Japan is facing a serious demographic burden after decades of rapid ageing of the population and falling birth rates.

People aged 65 or older are expected to account for 40 per cent of the country's population by 2060, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.