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of Mao Tse-tung, the population of the Colony has risen appreciably although in this connection it should be mentioned that for some time now entry into the Colony has been restricted.
8.
The 1921 Census revealed a total de facto population of 625,166 and the equivalent figure for the 1931 Census was 849,751 distributed as follɔws:
Malos
Females
Island of Hɔng Kɔng
247.967
162.954
Total 410.921
Kowloon Foninsula
146.618
118. 057
2640675
New Territories
50.147
48.758
98.905
Population afloat
47.126
28.124
75.250
Totals
491.858
357.893
849.751
Thus between 1921 and 1931 there was a total increase in population of 215,307.
9.
In 1931 only 8.3% of the civilian population claimed tɔ be British or naturalised British subjects and 97% were of the Chinese race. The sex ratio amon; civilians was then 741 females to 1,000 malos. The ratio is much more even today because in 1931 the ratio was at parity up to 10 years of age and there was no marked disparity up to the age of 15 years.
10.
at the time of the 1931 Census the proportion of the total population classed as "in gainful employment" was 52.87% made up of 71. 28% in the case of males and 27.58% in the case of females. The se are exceptionally high figures and may not be strictly accurate although a very large number of people eke out a living by following some pursuit.
11.
Subsequent population increases, that is to say over the past 20 years, have been greater than formerly and the present pop- ulation has been estimated to be as high as 2,500,000. The popula- tion is considered to be less transient than formerly. The daily ebb and flow of Chinese, before the war, was at the rate of about 8,000. The equivalent figure today is appreciably smaller despite the increase in population.
12.
It is of interest to record, in the light of more recent statistical data, that in the first official figures relating to the population of Hong Kong, in 1841, the Chinese residents were given as numbering 5,650 composed of 2,550 villagers and fishermen, 800 living in the Bazaar and 2,000 on craft of various kinds in the harbour and 300 labourers from Kowloon, The total population of Kowloon peninsula was not included in these figures but was stated to be 800 Chinese.
13.
To-day the poulation in the built-up areas of both Hong Kong and Kowloon is xceptionally onse and the housing shortage in the Colony, which has for many years been apparent, is now extremely acute, Squatter settlements abound and the shanties, being constructed almost entirely of wood and huddled together, constitute a fire risk which is appalling despite the existence of co-operative fire-fighting squads.*
14.
Aided by its free port facilities, the unsettled conditions on the mainland of China during the past 20 years and, more recently, by the practical elimination of Shanghai as a major trading port and manufactury centre, amazing industrial progress has been made in Hong Kong, particularly since the re-occupation in 1945. Industries, many of them quite new to the Colony, have sprung up particularly in Kowloon.
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