Centenarian numbers had increased to 14,570 in 2015, new data revealed, while the amount of people aged 90 or over has exceeded the half million mark.

Of these centenarians, 850 were estimated to be aged 105 or more, double the number in 2005, new figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Centenarians represented just 2.6% of the population aged 90 and over and only 0.02% of the overall UK population.

However, their numbers have quadrupled from 3,420 in 1985, and in the last decade their numbers have gone up by 5,720, a 65% increase.

Numbers of centenarians aged 105 and over has increased markedly in recent years, reaching 850 in 2015 compared to just 130 in 1985.

Pamela Cobb, ONS head of demographic analysis, said: “The number of centenarians in the UK continues to increase year on year reaching just over 14,500 in 2015. Although the majority of the very old are women the number of men reaching the oldest ages is increasing as male mortality improves.”

There were over half a million (556,270) people aged 90 and over last year. This was up from 194,670 people in 1985.

For every 100 men aged 90 and over in 2015 there were 240 women.

About 7 in 10 people aged 90 and over were female but the ratio of females to males is falling.

Although the 90 and over group account for only 0.9% of the total UK population in 2015, the size of this age group relative to the rest of the population has increased over time.

In 1985, there were 344 people aged 90 and over per 100,000 population, compared to 854 people aged 90 and over per 100,000 population in 2015.

Most people aged 90 and over in the UK in 2015 were aged below 95

Approximately 4 out of 5 people age 90 and over in the UK in 2015 were aged below 95, however, the age structure of the 90 and over population is gradually becoming older.

Over the period 1985 to 2015, the proportion of the 90 and over population aged 90 to 94 decreased from 82% to 79% while the proportion aged 95 to 99 increased from 16% to 18% and the proportion aged 100 and over (centenarians) increased from 2% to 3%.

There was dip in the 90 and over population in 2008, reflecting low birth numbers 90 years previously, at the end of World War 1, followed by higher numbers of births in the early 1920s.

The ONS said: “The main driver of population ageing in recent decades has been improving mortality at all ages, but particularly at older ages.

“Improvements in survival to older ages are due to a combination of factors such as improved medical treatments, housing and living standards, nutrition and changes in the population’s smoking habits.

“In the last 10 years, a big change has been the fall in the percentage of deaths from heart disease.”