POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION
territory. The density on Hong Kong Island, and in Kowloon and New Kowloon was 26 180 people per square kilometre, while that of the New Territories was 2 790 per square kilometre. As a result of the continuing development of the new towns, there has been a substantial redistribution of the population from Kowloon and New Kowloon to the New Territories during the past decade. There was no significant change in the population on Hong Kong Island. The proportion of the resident population on Hong Kong Island was 21.7 per cent; in Kowloon and New Kowloon it was 33.5 per cent; and in the New Territories it was 44.5
per cent.
The age distribution of the population has changed considerably over the
past 10 years. In 1983, 24.1 per cent of the population was aged under 15 years; in 1993, the figure was 20 per cent. On the other hand, the proportion of people aged 65 and above has risen from seven per cent to 9.2 per cent over the same period. Along with these changes, the population aged between 15 and 64 years increased from 68.9 per cent in 1983 to 70.8 per cent in 1993. The dependency ratio the ratio of the young and the aged to people in the 15 to 64 age group — has, however, dropped from 451 per 1 000 in 1983 to 412 per 1 000 in 1993.
Compared with 10 years ago, the ratio of males to females in the population has declined. In 1993, there were 1 033 males per 1 000 females; in 1983, the figure was 1 074.
More statistics are given in Appendix 28.
Immigration Department
controlling
The work of the Immigration Department falls into two main streams people moving into and out of Hong Kong, and providing travel documents and registration facilities for local residents. The work embraces such diverse fields as the issue of travel documents; visas and identity cards; naturalisation; and the registration of births, deaths and marriages. Considerable effort also goes into detecting and prosecuting those who breach the immigration laws, and removing those who have entered Hong Kong illegally.
Immigration policies are framed to limit permanent population growth brought about by immigration into Hong Kong, and to control the entry of foreign workers. Every effort is made to streamline immigration procedures for Hong Kong residents, tourists and businessmen. At the same time, the department aims to prevent both the entry of undesirable persons and the departure of persons wanted for criminal offences.
To take full advantage of advanced information technology and to improve the efficiency, quality and cost-effectiveness of services provided to the public, the department is implementing a long-term information systems strategy. The new system, which is expected to improve the department's productivity by 10 to 15 per cent, is likely to take three years to come on line.
Much of the department's work requires international co-operation, to facilitate legiti- mate travel as well as stop illegal immigration. Immigration officers make regular visits overseas to maintain and enhance liaison with colleagues in other immigration control enforcement agencies.
Immigration Control
Passenger traffic continued to increase in 1993. A total of 82.2 million passengers travelled in and out of Hong Kong, up 6.8 per cent from the 77 million in 1992. Movements to and from China also increased by 9.4 per cent, from 48 million in 1992 to 52.5 million..
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