The number of people aged 100 and over in the Czech Republic may reach 13,000 by mid-century and 19,700 in 2065, demographic data indicate.

Citizens above 100 years old have increased in the country, with 1,103 made up of 920 women and 183 men from this group currently found among the 10.5-million population, Xinhua news agency reported.

Some 466 elderly inhabitants comprising 373 women and 93 men will turn 100 this year.

Demographers say the rising number of people in advanced years will form the largest demographic changes in future.

Czech Social Security Administration spokeswoman Jana Buranova said among the oldest resident is a woman living in the Moravia-Silesia region who was born in 1904, while the oldest man was born in 1905 and hails from the Hradec Kralove region in east Bohemia.

Once they reach 100, the people's monthly pension increases to cover more health and social care expenses.

Pensions for citizens aged over 100 was introduced in 1969.

In the last two decades, pension funds for this group gradually rose from 400 (about US$20) to 2,000 crowns (US$100).