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IX.-VITAL STATISTICS.
(a.)-POPULATION.
The civil population of the Colony, according to the census taken on April 24th, 1921, was 625,166, of whom 83,163 reside in the New Territories and in New Kowloon; at the census taken in 1911 it was 456,739 with 104,287 as the figure for the New Territories and New Kowloon. The estimated total population at the middle of the year under review was 874,420, but this includes the New Territories; and, as the birth and death figures given below do not include those from this area (with the exception of New Kowloon), the population for the purposes of calculating these rates is estimated at 786,920, of whom 16,500 were non-Chinese.
The distribution of population estimated to the middle of 1925 was as follows:
Non-Chinese Civil Community 16,500 Chinese Population City of Victoria (including Peak) 465,000 Villages of Hong Kong 33,040 Kowloon (including New Kowloon) 200,000 New Territories 87,500 Population afloat 72,380 Total Chinese Population 857,920 Total Civil Population 874,420(b.)-PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION.
The birth-rate for the year was 4.18 per 1,000 among the Chinese community and 19.0 per 1,000 among the non-Chinese community, as compared with 4.16 and 19.0 for 1925.
The death-rate for the year was 16.01 per 1,000 among the Chinese community and 10.2 among the non-Chinese civil community, as compared with 19.12 and 14.6 for 1925.
The deaths from Malaria numbered 587 (702 in 1925). The deaths of Chinese from this cause in the City of Victoria numbered 161 out of a population of 465,000 or a rate of 0.34 per 1,000 per annum.
The deaths from Plague numbered nil. The last deaths from Plague occurred in 1923.
Small-pox deaths numbered 26 of which 25 were Chinese.
* This figure is wholly misleading as it is impossible to register more than a portion of the births.
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