280 centenarians 'living in Northern Ireland'

There are more than 14,000 people aged more than 100 in the UK, the latest official data shows

There are 280 centenarians living in Northern Ireland, and almost 90% are women, new figures suggest.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) said the number of people aged 85 and over has risen by 1,000 each year for a decade.

The proportion of the NI population older than 85 is, at 2%, lower than in other UK countries, said NISRA.

But over the decade ending in 2015, Northern Ireland had the largest level of growth (37%) among this age group.

A record number of people in the UK - some 14,570 - were aged 100 or older, the latest official data shows.

That number has quadrupled over the last two decades, according to Office for National Statistics figures for 2015.