Map reveals the areas of England and Wales you’re most likely to live to 100 – where does yours rank?

According to official data, almost 14,000 people in England and Wales are aged 100 or over.

The Office for National Statistics said a record 13,924 people reached the minimum age in 2021, a 24 percent increase from the last census in 2011.

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A quarter of centenarians reported being in good or very good health.

Lauretta Boston, from London, who turned 100 in October, said: “You never think you’ll reach this age.

“Just a few months ago I was wondering whether I would reach 100 because something always goes wrong with my health.

“I feel that as long as you are mentally healthy, you can handle most things and organize yourself.

“I take care of one thing at a time and make sure I look good.”

The data shows that the number of centenarians has increased 127 times in 2021 compared to 110 in 1921.

The group’s numbers grew gradually from 1921 to 1961, before skyrocketing thanks to advances in healthcare and public health measures, the ONS said.

Ninety percent of the centenarians were between 100 and 103 years old, although some were as old as 112 years old.

They were all born before women were given the right to vote in 1928 and lived through the Great Depression and the founding of the NHS.

During World War II they would have been in their late teens and early 20s.

Centenarians now make up 0.2 percent of the population – with greater concentrations on the south coast.

The highest proportion was seen in East Devon, where 64 per 100,000 people were aged 100 or over.

This was followed by Arun in West Sussex (59 per 100,000) and New Forest in Hampshire (57 per 100,000).

Other top scorers included Somerset West and Taunton, Rother, North Norfolk, Dorset, Fylde and Folkestone.

But Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said many of those people were probably not born in those areas.

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“While breathing in a fresh sea breeze certainly has some health benefits, the most likely explanation for the greater density of old people on the coast is that that’s where they go when they retire,” he said The Telegraph.

“Because not everyone can afford it, the older population on the coast is likely to be wealthier on average, and we know that rich people tend to live longer than poor people.”

“There are also a lot of centenarians in places like Harrogate and the Cotswolds, which are landlocked but wealthy.”

A total of 18 local authorities across England and Wales have more than 100 centenarians.

These include Birmingham (193), Cornwall (177), Dorset (176) and Bournemouth (168).

The Isles of Scilly were the only area where there were none.

Overall, two-fifths of people over 100 live in shared accommodation, and almost 97 percent live in nursing homes.

Ethel Caterham, 114, is the oldest person in the UK.

Last year she said the key to a long and happy life was family.

Despite the increasing number of people living to such old age, independent experts must do more to ensure everyone else lives longer, healthier lives.

David Sinclair, from the International Longevity Center UK, said: “We are living much longer than previous generations.

“If one in four girls born today is to live to 100, we need to fundamentally rethink how we approach our health, education and work over a much longer life.”