World's Oldest Person
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The following are tables of the oldest people in the world in ordinal ranks. To avoid including false or unconfirmed claims of old age, names here are restricted to those people whose ages have been validated by an international body dealing in longevity research, such as the
Gerontology Research Group The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) based in Los Angeles, California, US, is a global non-profit scientific organization of researchers in various fields of gerontology, primarily concerned with validating the ages of, recording and researching ...
,
LongeviQuest LongeviQuest (LQ) is a scientific organization that specializes in extreme longevity and age validation of supercentenarians. It was founded by Ben Meyers and Robert Young in 2022, and has been cited in several media outlets as an authority on ...
, or ''
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
'', and others who have otherwise been reliably sourced. The longest documented and verified human lifespan is that of
Jeanne Calment Jeanne Louise Calment (; 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French supercentenarian. With a documented lifespan of 122 years and 164 days, she was the oldest people, oldest person in history whose age has been verified. Her longevity at ...
of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
(1875–1997), a woman who lived to the age of 122 years and 164 days. As women live longer than men on average, women predominate in combined records. The longest lifespan for a man is that of
Jiroemon Kimura Jiroemon Kimura (Japanese: 木村 次郎右衛門, Hepburn: ''Kimura Jirōemon''; 19 April 1897 – 12 June 2013) was a Japanese supercentenarian who was the verified oldest living person between Dina Manfredini's death on 17 December 2012 and h ...
of
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
(1897–2013), who lived to the age of 116 years and 54 days. The oldest living person in the world whose age has been validated is
Ethel Caterham Ethel May Caterham (née Collins; born 21 August 1909) is a British supercentenarian who, at the age of , is the world's oldest known living person since the death of Inah Canabarro Lucas on 30 April 2025, the oldest British person ever, an ...
of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, who has lived . She was born on 21 August 1909. The oldest living verified man is
João Marinho Neto João Marinho Neto (born 5 October 1912) is a Brazilian supercentenarian who has been the world's oldest verified living man following the death of John Tinniswood from the United Kingdom. Biography João Marinho Neto was born in Maranguape, ...
of
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, who has lived . He was born on 5 October 1912.


Ten oldest verified people

Systematic verification of longevity has only been practiced since the 1950s and only in certain parts of the world. All ten oldest verified people ever are female. The longest documented and verified human lifespan is that of
Jeanne Calment Jeanne Louise Calment (; 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French supercentenarian. With a documented lifespan of 122 years and 164 days, she was the oldest people, oldest person in history whose age has been verified. Her longevity at ...
of France, a woman who lived to age 122 years and 164 days. She received news media attention in 1985, after turning 110. Calment's claim was investigated and authenticated by
Jean-Marie Robine Jean-Marie Robine (born 1951) is a French social scientist, who works in the field of demography and gerontology, and is an author and journalist, who is best known as being the co-validator of the longevity of Jeanne Calment, the oldest verified ...
and Dr. Michel Allard for the
Gerontology Research Group The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) based in Los Angeles, California, US, is a global non-profit scientific organization of researchers in various fields of gerontology, primarily concerned with validating the ages of, recording and researching ...
(GRG). Her longevity claim was put into question in 2018, but the original assessing team stood by their judgement.


Oldest people (all women)


Oldest men

aBranyas was born in the United States.
bMortensen was born in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
.


Ten oldest living people


Oldest living people (all women)


Oldest living men


Chronological list of the oldest known living person since 1951

This table lists the sequence of the world's oldest known living person from 1951 to present, according to GRG research and the
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
. Due to the
life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...
difference between sexes, nearly all the oldest living people have been women (thus the
maximum life span Maximum life span (or, for humans, maximum reported age at death) is a measure of the maximum amount of time one or more members of a population have been observed to survive between birth and death. The term can also denote an estimate of the maxi ...
is guided by the female numbers); a sequence of the oldest living men is provided below the main list.


Chronological list of the oldest living man since 1951

This table lists the sequence of the world's oldest known living man from 1951 to present.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldest People Gerontology * * Record progressions sv:Lista över världens äldsta människor