7
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1986
HALF OF THOSE HOUSEHOLDS (NON-OWNER OCCUPIERS) OCCUPYING WHOLE FLATS IN PRIVATE HOUSING BLOCKS PAID A RENT OF LESS THAN $1 794 A MONTH. AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN PUBLIC AND AIDED RENTAL BLOCKS, 50 PER CENT PAID LESS THAN $350 PER MONTH.
REGARDING THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION, MR LEE SAID: THE POPULATION IN THE NEW TERRITORIES INCREASED BY NEARLY 600 000 FROM 1.30 MILLION IN 1981 TO 1.88 MILLION IN 1986.+
THE LARGEST POPULATION GROWTH DISTRICT WAS SHA TIN, FOLLOWED BY TUEN MUN, WHILE WONG TAI SIN AND KOWLOON CITY EXPERIENCED THE LARGEST POPULATION DECREASES.
MONG KOK WAS THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED DISTRICT, WITH 139 600 PEOPLE PER SQUARE KILOMETRE.
THERE WERE 1 057 MALES PER 1 000 FEMALES IN THE POPULATION OF HONG KONG. THE SEX RATIO OF THE POPULATION WAS HIGHER IN 1981, BEING 1 093 MALES PER 1 000 FEMALES.
WITH THE LARGER NUMBER OF PEOPLE BORN IN THE LATE 1950'S NOW HAVING REACHED ADULTHOOD AND A CONTINUOUS DECLINE IN FERTILITY OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS, HONG KONG'S POPULATION HAS BECOME OLDER. ITS MEDIAN AGE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY FROM 22 IN 1971 TO 26 IN 1981 AND TO 29 IN 1986.+
ABOUT THREE-FIFTHS OF THE POPULATION WERE BORN IN HONG KONG. MORE THAN ONE-THIRD OF THE POPULATION AGED 15 AND ABOVE WERE NEVER MARRIED.
EDUCATION ATTAINMENT OF THE POPULATION HAS CONTINUED TO IMPROVE. THE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION AGED 5 AND ABOVE WITH SECONDARY OR A HIGHER LEVEL OF EDUCATION INCREASED FROM 45 PER CENT IN 1981 TO 51 PER CENT IN 1986.
+WITH THE INFLOW OF IMMIGRANTS LARGELY SUBDUED, THE LABOUR FORCE OF HONG KONG GREW OLDER AGAIN IN 1986 AS A RESULT OF THE AGEING OF THE POPULATION. THE MEDIAN AGE WAS 33, COMPARED WITH
32 FIVE YEARS AGO, MR LEE SAID.
THE LABOUR FORCE INCREASED FROM 2.5 MILLION IN 1981 TO 2.75 MILLION IN 1986, AT AN AVERAGE RATE OF TWO PER CENT PER ANNUM, MORE WOMEN JOINED THE LABOUR FORCE DURING THE FIVE-YEAR PERIOD THEIR LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE INCREASED FROM 49 PER CENT TO 51 PER CENT.
SPEAKING OF THE OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORKING POPULATION, MR LEE SAID, THERE WERE MORE WORKERS IN PROFESSIONAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND MANAGERIAL OCCUPATIONS IN 1986 THAN IN 1981. ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE WERE LESS PRODUCTION WORKERS.+
/BETWEEN 1981