How old was the oldest person to ever live?
The oldest recorded age anyone has reached is 122.
When Jeanne Calment was born in France on February 21, 1875, the Eiffel Tower had yet to be built and the telephone wouldn’t be invented for another year. When she died on August 4, 1997, she’d lived the longest life in recorded human history: 122 years and 164 days. A longevity expert who knew Calment attributed her record-setting lifespan to the facts that she was wealthy, didn’t smoke until much later in life, and had “absolutely nothing to do except to take care of [herself], to visit France and have social activities.”
There are an estimated 722,000 centenarians — people at least 100 years old — living in the world today, with Japan responsible for more than any other country (roughly 146,000). The vast majority of people who reach that milestone are women, and the oldest man to ever live, Jiroemon Kimura, “only” reached 116. Anyone perusing a list of the world’s oldest people alive today would currently have to scroll down past the top 30 names before reaching a man. Women tend to live longer than men in general, with a mix of genetics, hormones, and lifestyle choices most often cited as the main reasons for their longevity.
French presidents Calment lived through
20
Percentage of American centenarians who are women
78%
Age at which Calment took up cigarettes
112
Age of the world’s oldest living person as of April 2025
116
The number of U.S. centenarians is expected to quadruple in the next 30 years.
As of 2025, there are about 101,000 centenarians in the United States, but the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that number will quadruple to about 422,000 by 2054. Centenarians currently account for 0.03% of the population, a number expected to reach 0.1% in the same time frame. Japan is the only country with more centenarians than the United States, with China, India, and Thailand rounding out the top five. On a per capita level, Japan is most impressive: 12 out of every 10,000 people reach 100, compared to five in Thailand, three in the U.S., and fewer than one in China and India.
The oldest recorded age anyone has reached is 122.
When Jeanne Calment was born in France on February 21, 1875, the Eiffel Tower had yet to be built and the telephone wouldn’t be invented for another year. When she died on August 4, 1997, she’d lived the longest life in recorded human history: 122 years and 164 days. A longevity expert who knew Calment attributed her record-setting lifespan to the facts that she was wealthy, didn’t smoke until much later in life, and had “absolutely nothing to do except to take care of [herself], to visit France and have social activities.”
There are an estimated 722,000 centenarians — people at least 100 years old — living in the world today, with Japan responsible for more than any other country (roughly 146,000). The vast majority of people who reach that milestone are women, and the oldest man to ever live, Jiroemon Kimura, “only” reached 116. Anyone perusing a list of the world’s oldest people alive today would currently have to scroll down past the top 30 names before reaching a man. Women tend to live longer than men in general, with a mix of genetics, hormones, and lifestyle choices most often cited as the main reasons for their longevity.
French presidents Calment lived through
20
Percentage of American centenarians who are women
78%
Age at which Calment took up cigarettes
112
Age of the world’s oldest living person as of April 2025
116
The number of U.S. centenarians is expected to quadruple in the next 30 years.
As of 2025, there are about 101,000 centenarians in the United States, but the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that number will quadruple to about 422,000 by 2054. Centenarians currently account for 0.03% of the population, a number expected to reach 0.1% in the same time frame. Japan is the only country with more centenarians than the United States, with China, India, and Thailand rounding out the top five. On a per capita level, Japan is most impressive: 12 out of every 10,000 people reach 100, compared to five in Thailand, three in the U.S., and fewer than one in China and India.
How old was the oldest person to ever live?
The oldest recorded age anyone has reached is 122.
When Jeanne Calment was born in France on February 21, 1875, the Eiffel Tower had yet to be built and the telephone wouldn’t be invented for another year. When she died on August 4, 1997, she’d lived the longest life in recorded human history: 122 years and 164 days. A longevity expert who knew Calment attributed her record-setting lifespan to the facts that she was wealthy, didn’t smoke until much later in life, and had “absolutely nothing to do except to take care of [herself], to visit France and have social activities.”
There are an estimated 722,000 centenarians — people at least 100 years old — living in the world today, with Japan responsible for more than any other country (roughly 146,000). The vast majority of people who reach that milestone are women, and the oldest man to ever live, Jiroemon Kimura, “only” reached 116. Anyone perusing a list of the world’s oldest people alive today would currently have to scroll down past the top 30 names before reaching a man. Women tend to live longer than men in general, with a mix of genetics, hormones, and lifestyle choices most often cited as the main reasons for their longevity.
French presidents Calment lived through
20
Percentage of American centenarians who are women
78%
Age at which Calment took up cigarettes
112
Age of the world’s oldest living person as of April 2025
116
The number of U.S. centenarians is expected to quadruple in the next 30 years.
As of 2025, there are about 101,000 centenarians in the United States, but the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that number will quadruple to about 422,000 by 2054. Centenarians currently account for 0.03% of the population, a number expected to reach 0.1% in the same time frame. Japan is the only country with more centenarians than the United States, with China, India, and Thailand rounding out the top five. On a per capita level, Japan is most impressive: 12 out of every 10,000 people reach 100, compared to five in Thailand, three in the U.S., and fewer than one in China and India.
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