SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean aged 100 years or older has nearly tripled in a decade on the back of improvements in medical treatment and living conditions, data showed Thursday.

According to the data by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of centenarians came to 8,604 as of Nov. 1, 2025, a sharp rise from 3,159 in 2015.

The portion of centenarians to every 100,000 stood at 17.3 in 2025, up from 10.9 in 2015.

The number of male centenarians accounted for 16.6 percent of the total with 1,428.

By region, a quarter of the centenarians -- 2,052 people -- were living in Gyeonggi Province, followed by 1,268 in Seoul and 559 in North Gyeongsang Province, the data showed.

The latest findings, meanwhile, showed that one in five centenarians live alone.

sam@yna.co.kr

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