A total of 5,459 Romanians over 100 are registered on the official voting lists, more than 3,300 of whom are women, according to data included in the electoral register on October 2, 2015, reports local Hotnews.ro.

If these statistics are accurate, then Romania has about 28 centenarians for each 100,000 people, a rate that would place it close to more developed economies. By comparison, Italy has 31 centenarians for each 100,000 people, Spain has 33, and France has 36, according to recent official statistics. Japan is the country with the highest rate of centenarians, some 43 for each 100,000 people, according to data from 2013.

However, the electoral lists have not always proven accurate, as there have been many reported cases at recent elections of people finding their dead relatives on the lists. This often raised suspicions of electoral fraud, as some of the dead people on the lists have been found to vote.

More than 18.2 million Romanian citizens had the right to vote on October 5, 2015, slightly more than the figure entered in the electoral register on September 4.

Romania continues to lose its people: the resident population drops to new low

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com