Places claiming to be centenarian hotspots may just have bad data (2023)

OKINAWA IS famed for the longevity of its residents. The small Japanese island, far south-west of the mainland, boasts a life expectancy for 65-year-old women that is almost a year higher than the country-wide average, and around four years more than that of Britain or America.

This article appeared in the Graphic detail section of the print edition under the headline “Olive oil and snake oil”

Chart sources: “Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud”, by S. Newman, working paper; UN; ESPON