Centenarians in Europe: France Leads with 22,578 Recorded, According to Clariane
The personal services group Clariane and the research firm Astérès released a study on Wednesday providing an overview of centenarians in Europe, highlighting the demographic and geographical factors that explain the highest concentrations. This study, conducted across 243 European regions, reveals that certain areas accumulate conditions particularly conducive to exceptional longevity.
France Has the Highest Proportion of Centenarians in Europe
According to the Clariane x Astérès study, the European Union had nearly 100,000 centenarians at the last census, accounting for 0.022% of the bloc's population. France ranks first with 22,578 centenarians in 2021, or 0.033% of its population—an amount higher than that of Italy, which has 19,714. Eight out of ten European centenarians are women, most often widowed and generally more educated than their generational peers.
Geography Takes Precedence Over Health Resources
The analysis shows that geographical location is the most significant factor in the concentration of centenarians. Southern European countries register 77% more centenarians proportionally than Western European countries, while Eastern Europe has 55% fewer. Education level, the maintenance of marital ties in old age, and smoking also influence this distribution. The study emphasizes that neither the wealth of the territories nor the density of healthcare provision (number of hospital beds or doctors) has a measurable statistical effect on exceptional longevity.
Regional Disparities Surpass National Borders
The differences in concentration between regions exceed the administrative borders of countries. France shows a ratio of 1 to 7 among its regions (from 5 to 33 centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants), while Spain records a ratio of 1 to 5. For comparison, Bulgaria has 5 centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants, which is the lowest level observed. These disparities demonstrate that the regional scale determines the differences in remarkable longevity in Europe more than the national scale.
