Number of Czechs Aged 100 or Older Has Doubled in a Decade

According to the Czech Social Security Administration, the number of Czech residents aged 100 and above reached a record 1,186 people in June. This is the highest figure since records began — and given the trend of recent years, it likely won't hold that title for long, as the statistics are updated every quarter.

The comparison with the previous decade is even more telling: in June 2016, the country had just 583 people over the age of 100. In ten years, that number has doubled.

Why the ranks of the very elderly are growing

Gerontologist Iva Holmerová calls the data a good "report card" for the country and its healthcare system. "We're healthier, happier, and living in a wealthier country. Care has improved, and people are taking better care of themselves. It's all good news," she says of the trend.

Demographer Petr Mazouch, head of the Department of Economic Statistics at the Prague University of Economics and Business, explains the surge as a coincidence of two factors — large generations and falling mortality within them. "During the First World War, birth rates were low, so from around 2015 the number of centenarians began to decline." But the interwar generations were large again, and the trend reversed.

Today's centenarians are just the beginning

Sociologist Lucie Vidovićová from the Masaryk University Centre for Research on Ageing calls today's centenarians the pioneers of a trend that is only just beginning. "Most people die around the age of 80. But if you survive that critical age, your chances of living to a very old age increase significantly," she says.

Eurostat's forecast backs this up: by 2045, the Czech Republic is expected to have exactly 6,000 people over 100; five years after that, more than 9,000; and by 2075, nearly 29,000.

According to Vidovićová, countries will need to seriously prepare for the overall ageing of their populations. "We need to decide whether we consider caring for the elderly a societal value and a priority. We can cope with the expected growth of the older generation — if we want to," the sociologist believes.

Women outnumber men among centenarians six to one

The statistics reveal a clear gender gap: for every six women over the age of 100, there is just one man. In June, 1,016 women and 170 men in this age group were registered.

Iva Holmerová attributes this to women remaining active longer, at least in everyday life, and society generally offering them more activities and opportunities than men.

Jan Bartoš, director of Elpida Centre, an organisation supporting active seniors, points to an imbalance in education for older generations: among students at Universities of the Third Age, 80–90% are women. His theory is that work with the elderly has become unconsciously "feminised" — using language and topics that resonate more with women, while men are put off by the classroom-style format and the difficulty of admitting they don't understand something.

What stands in the way of a longer life

Lucie Vidovićová notes that the dream of longevity is as old as humanity itself and has always attracted entrepreneurs — the only difference today is the technology at their disposal. According to her, not a single living centenarian owes their longevity to technology or dietary supplements. "The real breakthrough comes with economic stability. The wealthier a society becomes, the better its longevity indicators — that's perhaps the one thing we know for certain," she says.

Gerontologist Iva Holmerová sums up the universal recipe: prevention of cardiovascular disease, sufficient social and spiritual activity, a healthy environment, and moderation in eating. Demographer Petr Mazouch adds that for women around the age of 80, the main threat is precisely cardiovascular disease, especially strokes. And in places where this cause of death has been brought under control, as in France, the next major obstacle emerges — neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz