Hong Kong 2012: The Facts
Population
Total: 7.1546 million (as at mid-2012)
Hong Kong Island
1.28 million
Area
Total: 1,104.43 square km
17.9%
Hong Kong Island & adjacent islands
80.64 sq km
Kowloon
46.94 sq km
Kowloon
2.15 million
30.0%
New Territories-mainland
748.06 sq km
New Territories
3.73 million
52.1%
New Territories-islands
228.79 sq km
Marine
< 0.005 million
< 0.05%
Age structure (as at mid-2012)
(Lantau 147.16 sq km; others 81.63 sq km) (Reclamation since 1887
68.28 sq km)
Median age: 42.0 Under 15: 11.4% 65 and over: 13.7%
Sex ratio (as at mid-2012)
Overall: 869 males per 1,000 females
Under 15: 1,071
Crude birth rate
65 and over: 870
12.8# per 1,000 population
Crude death rate
6.0# per 1,000 population
Expectation of life at birth
Male 80.6 years#
Female 86.3 years#
Religion and custom
Overall density (as at mid-2012)
6,620 people per square kilometre. The most densely populated District Council district is Kwun Tong with a density of 56,200 persons per square kilometre.
Housing
About 2.1 million people live in the 766,300 public rental housing flats of the Hong Kong Housing Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society. Of Hong Kong's 2.39 million domestic households, 52% owned the accommodation, 44% were tenants and 4% lived in either rent-free accommodation or accommodation provided by employers.
Ethnicity and nationality
Predominantly of Chinese ethnicity (as at mid-2011): 94% Non-PRC nationals physically present in Hong Kong (as at end-2012): 603,230
Buddhists and Taoists make up the vast majority.
Others (estimates):
Christians 843,000;
Muslims 270,000;
Hindus 40,000;
Sikhs 10,000;
Jews 3,000.
Largest groups:
Indonesia
164,850
Nepal
19,900
Philippines
160,850
Canada
19,810
USA
28,290
Pakistan
18,820
India
27,610
Malaysia
14,990
Thailand
27,560
United Kingdom
12,120
Sub-total
494,800
Weather
Average annual rainfall
2,398.5 mm
Wettest period
Hourly
Daily
Monthly
Driest
10% humidity (16 January 1959)
Employment
145.5 mm (7 June 2008)
534.1 mm (19 July 1926) 1,346.1 mm (June 2008)
Total in employment#: 3.67 million
Major employment sectors# Import/export, wholesale and retail trades; and accommodation" and food services
Public administration; and social and personal services
Financing and insurance; real estate; and professional and business services
Transportation, storage, postal and courier services; and information and communications
Construction
Manufacturing
Unemployment rate
Median wage
(non-Government employees)
1,174,800 32% of total in employment 940,100 26% of total in employment
705,200 19% of total in employment 422,900
12% of total in employment
293,500 8% of total in employment
111,600
3% of total in employment
3.3%
$13,400 per month (May-June 2012)
# Provisional figures, or figures subject to later revision.
A
Highest temperature
36.1°C (19 August 1900 and 18 August 1990)
Lowest temperature
0.0°C (18 January 1893)
Highest wind speed (gust)
259 km/h at HK Observatory, 284 km/h at Tate's Cairn (Typhoon Wanda, 1 September 1962)
The Economy
Economic growth
Year-on-year rate of change in GDP in real terms: 1.4%# Inflation affecting consumers
Year-on-year rate of change in Composite CPI: 4.1%
Transport
Roads
The 2,090 km of roads carry 653,010 licensed vehicles, or about 312 vehicles per kilometre
Bridges
Longest: Tsing Ma suspension bridge (main span
1,377 metres) and the cable-stayed Stonecutters Bridge (main span 1,018 metres)
Air movements
351,684 flights; 55.66 million passengers; 4.03 million tonnes of freight
Shipping movements
30,700 ocean vessel arrivals; 31,260 ocean vessel departures; 269 million tonnes port cargo throughput
Container throughput
23.12 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units
Accommodation services cover hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses and other establishments providing short-term accommodation.