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Population
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THE people of Hong Kong are now living longer and having smaller families, and a population bulge is beginning to develop in the right place. Hong Kong still has a very young population, but the number of potential wage earners-those in the 15-64 age group is increasing. There are more people to support the young and the old, and the growing number of the aged is being more than offset by a drop in the birth rate.
The total estimated population at the end of 1975 was 4,379,900, with 2,262,700 males and 2,117,200 females. Compared with the estimated population of 3,625,400 in 1965, there has been an increase of 21 per cent over the last 10 years.
The average annual rate of increase over the 10 year period was two per cent. The rate year by year fluctuated owing to changes in migration flow. But the rate of natural increase dropped steadily over the period from 23.1 to 13.3 per thousand. This was the result of a decline in the birth rate from 28.1 per thousand in 1965 to 18.3 per thousand in 1975, with the death rate remaining stable at about five per thousand.
The population of Hong Kong is still a very young one-more than 43 per cent of the population in 1975 was below the age of 20. But the median age of the popula- tion which 10 years ago was 20.8-is now 23.3 years. The proportions between the different sections of the population have also changed considerably. In 1965, 40.8 per cent of the population was under 15; now it is 31.4 per cent. The relative figure for those aged 65 and over has risen from 3.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent. This indicates that there is a greater potentially productive population (aged 15–64) avail- able to support the infants, those who are being educated, or those who have retired. The dependency ratio-the ratio of the young and the retired to all those in the 15-64 age group-dropped from 800 per thousand in 1965 to 584 per thousand in 1975.
The lower proportion of the population in the under 15 age group is the result of a decline in the birth rate-which is low even compared with some developed countries. The absolute number of births also dropped, from 101,110 in 1965 to 79,790 in 1975. This decline in the birth rate is partly the result of women having fewer children, as well as a decrease within the prime child bearing age groups in both the number of women and the proportion of currently married women. In recent years, later marriages have also contributed, while improvements in education and job opportunities for women have almost certainly played their part.
There was a general decline in mortality after 1951. The death rate dropped to the level of about five per thousand in 1964, since when it has remained much the