France counts 30,000 centenarians in 2023. That’s close to 30 times more than in 1970. This trend”should continue to increase, indicates INSEE (source 1). According to the central scenario of population projections, which extends recent trends, in 2040, France could have 76,000 centenarians”. In the case of an increase in life expectancy, this number could even reach 120,000.
It is not so much the number of people over the age of 100 – which has been increasing by 15% per year since 2020 – but rather the probability of becoming centenarians that places the France “at the forefront of Europe“.
Female graduates are more likely to become centenarians
The survey also shows that the majority of centenarians in France (86%) are women. Moreover, French life expectancy, the highest in the European Union according to INSEE, is 85.3 years for women, against 79.3 years for men (source 2).
Another indication of the study: the social level has a significant impact on the chance of blowing out 100 candles. “Becoming a centenarian is much more common among graduates higher education than among people without a diploma: among women aged 70 to 75 in 1990, 7% of higher education graduates reached the age of 100, compared to 3% of those without a diploma. by better access to care, and by the fact that people with higher qualifications do less physical work.
The person holding the record for longevity is Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who lived 122 years and 5 months. The current doyenne of humanity is also French: it is Lucile Randon, 119 years old.