Four coastal towns known as 'blue zones' where almost everyone lives to 100
There are four towns along the coast in the UK where almost everyone lives to 100.
Data from the United Nations shows how Britain is second only to France for the number of centenarians per 100,000 people. This puts them ahead of ahead of Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. Regions where people tend to live longer than average are known as "blue zones". This phenomenon has been the subject of the new Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.
Four places in the UK that can be added to the "blue zones" list are Bournemouth, Bognor Regis, Exmouth and Axminster, the Daily Express reports.
Overall, on Census Day in 2021 there were 13,924 centenarians living in England and Wales, a 24.5 percent increase from 2011 and the highest number of centenarians recorded in an England and Wales census, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In England and Wales, there were 23 centenarians per 100,000 population on Census Day 2021 with the proportion being the same for England alone, which had a total of 13,124 in this age group. A total of 159 local authorities had a higher number of centenarians per 100,000 population than the overall England and Wales figure.
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Only four areas have more than 52 centenarians per 100,000 people, with Waverley in Surrey ranked fourth; the New Forest near Bournemouth third; Arun, Bognor Regis in second place and East Devon in the top spot. Birmingham had the highest number of centenarians overall at 193 - but there were only 17 per 100,000 people.
The ONS said there were eight local authorities with fewer than 10 centenarians per 100,000 people. Six were London boroughs - Newham (five per 100,000); Tower Hamlets (six); Hackney (eight); Islington (nine); Lambeth (nine); and Lewisham (9.6).
The other two were Knowsley in the north-west of England and Crawley in West Sussex - both with nine centenarians per 100,000 population. Dr Carole Easton, Chief Executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said society is "ill-prepared for this significant demographic shift".
She said: "We have an ageing population, but there is no overall strategy to prepare for the complex social and policy challenges that this will generate. Older workers continue to be undervalued and overlooked, the vast majority of our housing does not meet the needs of the people that live in them as they age. Ageism is a widespread poison within our society that is not taken seriously enough.
"This is why we need a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing in England to act as an independent champion for older people and ensure that policymaking across government considers the long-term needs of our ageing population."
Lauretta Boston, from London, turned 100 in October 2022. She told the ONS: "I live alone, but I never get lonely. I never seem to have enough time, because everything is a big effort and I'm so slow. It takes me time to do everything, so the days seem short."
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