Tokyo ? The number of Japanese living beyond 100 has almost quadrupled in the past 10 years, the government said Friday.

The Health Ministry said Japan was likely to have 28,395 citizens aged 100 years or older at the end of September, a jump from last year’s record 25,554 – 85 percent of whom were women. The ministry conducted a nationwide survey and the figure is a projection of centenarians by the end of the month.

The number of people living past 100 has been on the rise since 1971, and has accelerated since 1996 when Japan had 7,373 people who had reached three figures, according to the ministry.

Japan’s centenarian population is expected to reach nearly 1 million – the world’s largest – by 2050, according to U.N. projections.