FORGET the baby-boomers - centenarians are Scotland's fastest-growing age group.

The number of Scots aged 100 and older is estimated to be 720, compared with just 570 in 2002.

And around 30 of them are thought to be 105 or older.

The figures were published by the Registrar General for Scotland, Duncan Macniven, who said: "This is one example of the ageing of Scotland's population.

"Almost nine out of every 10 centenarians are women but the proportion of men is slowly increasing."

The findings came after the death was reported of a woman believed to be the oldest person in Scotland.

Elizabeth Cockburn died in Aberdeenshire on Sunday aged 108.

A hundred years ago Scottish centenarians were rare.

By the start of this century there were estimated to be more than 500 and the figure has been rising steadily.

But the number in the next age group down - those aged 90 to 99 - has fallen for the second year in a row, as a result of fewer babies being born during the First World War.