The KMC E1 is reputed to be a good chain but not cheap.  It looks like it has done well.  Perhaps helped by your 45 / 19 ratio?
The chainwheel being alloy probably explains the wear - but if you can flip it then it will also do a good total mileage.
If you fit a new E1 and flip both chainwheel and sprocket then in another 22,000 km everything will be due for a change.

Put on a new chain, flip the sprocket.  Your sprocket looks amazingly good for that distance and if your chain is worn.  My sprocket was more worn than that when I finally flipped it.

Your chainring looks more worn than the sprocket does, that surprises me.  I would replace the sprocket chainring at this time.

You might consider measuring your chain later.  The cheap small chain checkers are not very accurate, but you can measure the length of an entire chain when it hangs from a hook.  One link is a half inch when new, thus 100 links is 50 inches from center of pin to center of pin.  If it is 50.5 inches, that is one percent elongation.  I think on a Rohloff bike replacing the chain when you are a bit over one percent elongation is a good time to replace it.

EDIT:  I made a correction above, I meant to suggest replacing the chainring, but used the word sprocket inadvertently.

Strange how the chainwheel is more worn than the sprocket - but maybe it is alloy while the sprocket is steel?

If it's the original chainring supplied by Thorn it is almost certainly aluminium alloy.

With teeth starting to hook is there a risk of the chain being sucked up the back of the chainwheel and locking up?

Very unlikely on hub gear without a derailleur or derailleur type tensioner. Even with a slack chain, though with the latter it can drop off the chainring.

You might eek out another few thousand km's by taking a link out, but the failure method becomes more and more likely to be a snapped chain.  I'd consider I'd had good value from it. flip both chainring and sprocket and fit the new chain.

Agree. After 22000 km and given the wear on the chainring, time for a new chain and flip the sprocket and chainring.

Snapping a chain could be very inconvenient.

On a hub gear bike I have had this happen once, the outer plates on one link failed on a very worn chain, but nothing like 22000 kms use. This was before I started using Chaingliders, which make a significant difference to transmission maintenance and longevity, at least for all-weather use in the coastal area where I live.

Fortunately for me I was only a few kms from home and the bike trailer I was towing had been unloaded before the chain broke. So not too hard to push the bike/trailer up the hills and coast on the downhills. My bike toolkit now includes spare 1/8" chain links in addition to the 3/32" quick links and spare links I already had.

Hey All!

I came across this service today...

https://eclean.green/collections/top-products/products/down-sleeping-bag-cleaning?variant=46105236242629

That sounds interesting, I've heard of dry cleaners offering chemical free cleaning suitable for down, I suspect it's the same thing, though have no experience.  Thankfully my experience with traditional down cleaners has been the opposite to yours, my down quilt comes back looking and lofting like new.  I note the link above says it saves 80 gallons of water, I doubt the home washers use half of that.  In the end it's what someone is happy with, in terms of both results and risks.