The number of centenarians living in England and Wales is at a record high – and one of the highest concentrations is in Sussex.

In the past century, the number of people aged 100 or older across England and Wales has risen from just 110 people to almost 14,000.

This figure, 13,924 people on Census Day in 2021, is around a 127-fold increase on the 1921 census and the rise has led to renewed calls for a better strategy to deal with an ever-ageing population.

Arun District was one of the areas with the largest proportion of centenarians, with 59 per 100,000.

This is the second highest after East Devon, where the rate is 64 per 100,000.

Crawley was at the other end of the scale, with just nine centenarians per 100,000 people.

The ONS said there were seven more local authorities with fewer than ten centenarians per 100,000 people.

Of these, the ONS said six were London boroughs and the other was in Knowsley in the north west of England.

A quarter of centenarians reported having good or very good general health.

There were 11,288 female and 2,636 male centenarians in England and Wales when the latest census was carried out, continuing the pattern of more women than men due to a higher life expectancy for females.

Birmingham had the highest number of centenarians overall at 193 – but there were only 17 centenarians per 100,000 people.

Dr Carole Easton, chief executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said society is “ill prepared for this significant demographic shift”.

She said: “We have an ageing population but there is no overall strategy to prepare for the complex social and policy challenges that this will generate.

“Older workers continue to be undervalued and overlooked, the vast majority of our housing does not meet the needs of the people that live in them as they age, ageism is a widespread poison within our society that is not taken seriously enough.

“This is why we need a commissioner for older people and ageing in England to act as an independent champion for older people and ensure that policy making across government considers the long-term needs of our ageing population.”