If you want to reach your 100th birthday and receive a telegram from the King, one biological difference could prove key to your success.
For women are more than four times as likely to become centenarians than men, official figures have today revealed.
More than 12,000 women across England and Wales reached the milestone in 2023.
By contrast, just over 2,700 men hit 100 across the two nations, according to the Office for National Statistics data.
It means the number of centenarians has more than doubled since 2002, with 14,850 last year.
At the age of 115, Ethel Caterham, from Surrey, is the oldest living person in the UK following the death of 112-year-old Mollie Walker on 22 January 2022
Statisticians say this overall increase is because of improvements in mortality stretching back decades.
But the figure also marks a slight dip (0.5 per cent) on 2022, when 14,920 adults in England and Wales hit the landmark age.
It is also the first time in six years the total number of people over 100 has fallen. In 2018 this was blamed on low numbers of births during World War One.
Despite the slowdown, the figures did show there were more people aged 103 across the two nations than ever before (1,440).
By country, for every 100,000 people, there were 26 who have reached the centenarian milestone in Wales.
In England the rate stood at 24 people per 100,000.
There were also 551,760 nonagenarians, people over the age of 90, living across the two nations in 2023 — the highest figure ever recorded.
Women were also twice as likely (383,250) to reach this milestone than men (183,510).
Stephen Lowe, group communications director at retirement specialist Just Group, said: ‘Our centenarian population has risen significantly since the millennium.
‘Even though the number of centenarians is stabilising as the impact of the large birth rate post-First World War recedes, it still illustrates there are some demographic issues our society must tackle in order to look after an ageing population.
‘The clear and significant disproportion in female and male centenarians highlights some of the particular challenges that women are likely to face in later-life.
‘Even if we are young today, most of us hope to be fortunate enough to live a long life.
‘The combined factors of longer life expectancy and smaller personal savings mean that women are more vulnerable to poverty in later life.’
Global average life expectancy is forecast to increase to around 78.1 years of age in 2050. Pictured, Ethel Caterham celebrating her 115th birthday in August
Earlier this year, research suggested life expectancy across the world will rise by almost five years by 2050, with the average man forecasted to live to 76 and woman, past 80.
Global average life expectancy is forecast to increase to around 78.1 years of age in 2050, a rise of 4.5 years, The Lancet Public Health study also found.
At the time, experts said the trend was largely driven by public health measures both preventing and improving survival rates from illnesses including cardiovascular disease, nutritional diseases and maternal and neonatal infections.
Commentators also said the figures present an ‘immense opportunity’ to ‘get ahead of rising metabolic and dietary risk factors’ such as high blood pressure and BMI.
The oldest living person in the world is now Japan‘s Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908, and is 116 years old.
At the age of 115, Ethel Caterham, from Surrey, is the oldest living person in the UK following the death of 112-year-old Mollie Walker on 22 January 2022.
The oldest living person in the world is now Japan ‘s Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908, and is 116 years old
The title of the oldest person to have ever lived belongs to French woman Jeanne Louise Calment whose life spanned 122 years and 164 days.
Ms Caterham, who died in 1997, attributed her longevity to ‘never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like’.
Experts who have studied centenarians agree.
Physical activity, faith, love, companionship, and a sense of purpose make up the backbone of so-called ‘Blue Zones,’ or areas of the world where people typically live to 100 and beyond.
Maintaining an active lifestyle, even simply walking around town every day, has been shown to improve longevity.
Companionship has been shown to have a similarly positive effect on a person’s lifespan, with studies consistently showing loneliness is toxic.
