consumption of different types of goods, have increased very greatly during the past three years, partly no doubt as a result of the increased population but partly also as a result of the better facilities and the greater quantity of commodities available to the public.
Air traffic, for example has been nearly quadrupled since 1947. The number of aircraft entering and leaving Kai Tak has risen from 5,486 in 1947 and 14,271 in 1948 to 25,000 in 1949. These aircraft carried 320,000 passengers in 1949 (250,000 in 1948 and 81,815 in 1947) and 6.1 million kilograms of freight (1.7 million in 1948 and 845,000 in 1947). A landing or take off at Kai Tak every 5 minutes has become common.
Vessels engaged in foreign trade, including launches and junks, entering and clearing the port during the year totalled 44,206 vessels of 26 million tons, while launches and junks engaged in local trade totalled 25,081 vessels of 863,000 tons. The totals of all vessels, 69,287 vessels of 27 million tons, show an increase over 1948 of 3,527 vessels and 5 million tons.
Passenger traffic on the Railway has increased by about 80% in the last two years to a total of 4.7 million (3.6 million in 1948 and 2.7 million in 1947), the greatest number ever carried on the line.
Similar increases may be seen in the public utility companies. Buses, for example, carried 126 million passen- gers (76 million in 1948) a total distance of 15 million miles (12 million miles in 1948).
About 109 million passengers travelled on the Tramway as compared with 88 million in 1948 and 66 million in 1947. On the Star Ferry 35 million people crossed the harbour, nearly four times the pre-war number, compared with 28 million in 1948.
Consumption of electricity has increased from 91 million units in 1947 and 150 million units in 1948 to 217 million units in 1949.
Gas consumption has increased to 393 million cubic feet in 1949 (220 million cubic feet in 1947 and 287 million cubic feet in 1948).
The average daily consumption of water rose during the year from 30 million gallons to over 32 million gallons; peak consumption reached 44.7 million gallons.
$2,750 million worth of goods were imported compared with $2,077 million in 1948 and $1,549 million in 1947.
$2,318 million worth of goods were exported compared with $1,582 million in 1948 and $1,216 million in 1947.
The Post Office sold $13 million worth of stamps, an increase of about 35% over 1948 and 75% over 1947.
The number of cars on the roads (excluding Service vehicles) has risen from 11,757 in 1948 to 14,551 in 1949.
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