Japanese woman, world's oldest person, dies at 116

The world's oldest woman, Tomiko Itooka, has died at age 116, Japanese media reported on Saturday.

Itooka passed away in a nursing home in the western Hyogo province, according to Kyodo News.

Itooka, born on May 23, 1908, became the oldest living person in Japan in December 2023 following the death of Fusa Tatsumi, 116, in Osaka.

Last September Itooka was recognized as the world's oldest living person by Guinness World Records following the death of the previous record holder, Maria Branyas Morera, 117, from Catalonia, Spain, according to Kyoto.

Japan's centenarians hit record high

The number of people in Japan aged 100 or older has hit a record high of more than 95,000 -- almost 90 percent of them women -- government data showed last year.

The figures further highlight the slow-burning demographic crisis gripping the world's fourth-biggest economy as its population ages and shrinks.

As of September 1, Japan had 95,119 centenarians, up 2,980 year-on-year, with 83,958 of them women and 11,161 men, the health ministry said in a statement.

Separate government data showed that the number of over-65s has hit a record high of 36.25 million, accounting for 29.3 percent of Japan's population.

The proportion puts Japan at the top of a list of 200 countries and regions with a population of over 100,000 people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.