Number of centenarians increasing, most living in Zeeland

Over the past decades, the number of centenarians has increased virtually every year. In the past three years, there were just over 2,500 centenarians. Of the 2,572 centenarians on 1 January 2023, the vast majority were women (2,172). In general, women live longer than men. CBS expects the number of centenarians to reach more than 5 thousand by 2040. The number of people in this age group is rising because, compared to previous generations, more children were born and older people are living longer.

Most centenarians in Zeeland

Relatively most centenarians live in the province of Zeeland (4.2 per thousand over-80-year-olds), followed by Flevoland (4.0 per thousand over-80s). Limburg (2.2 per thousand over-80s) and Noord-Brabant (2.4 per thousand over-80s) count fewest centenarians.

On average, Dutch municipalities have 2.9 centenarians per thousand over-80s in their midst. Twenty-one of the 342 municipalities did not have any registered centenarians. The islands Vlieland (1 centenarian in 67 over-80s) and Schiermonnikoog (1 centenarian in 73 over-80s) counted most centenarians in relative terms on 1 January 2023.

Relatively most centenarians in Ireland

The Netherlands counted 3.0 centenarians per thousand over-80s in 2022, placing it in the tail end of the median group in the European Union. Ireland leads the list with 15.4 centenarians per thousand over-80s. Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria have the lowest number of centenarians per thousand over-80s.