XN000022-1981-11-09 — Page 2

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1981

FAMILIES GETTING SMALLER, CENSUS SHOWS

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HONG KONG'S FAMILIES ARE BECOMING SMALLER, ITS POPULATION IS GETTING OLDER, BUT ITS LABOUR FORCE IS GETTING YOUNGER.

THESE AND OTHER DETAILS ARE INCLUDED IN A SUMMARY OF THE 1981 CENSUS RESULTS RELEASED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (MONDAY).

THE CENSUS WAS CONDUCTED IN MARCH THIS YEAR. IT WAS A TWO-PHASE OPERATION, CONSISTING OF A 100 PER CENT HEAD-COUNT BY AGE AND SEX AND A 20 PER CENT SAMPLE ENUMERATION OF THE BROAD RANGE OF SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION.

ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS FINDINGS, THERE WERE 5.11 MILLION LOCAL RESIDENTS OF HONG KONG IN MARCH, 1981. (A TOTAL OF 5.02 MILLION PEOPLE WERE ENUMERATED, INCLUDING TRANSIENTS AND VIETNAMESE REFUGEES. IT WAS ALSO ESTIMATED THAT 120 000 RESIDENTS WERE AWAY FROM HONG KONG AT THE TIME OF THE CENSUS.)

COMMENTING ON THE CENSUS HEAD-COUNT, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS, MR C.C. GREENFIELD, SAID THAT THERE WAS AN INCREASE OF 1.05 MILLION PEOPLE OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS, GIVING AN AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF 2.4 PER CENT.

WHILE THE GROWTH DUE TO NATURAL INCREASE HAS SLOWED DOWN AS A RESULT OF A DECLINE IN FERTILITY, THE LARGE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS FROM 1978 TO 1980 CAUSED THE POPULATION TO INCREASE AT AN AVERAGE ANNUAL RATE OF 2.8 PER CENT BETWEEN 1976 AND 1981, AS AGAINST THE LOWER RATE OF 2.1 PER CENT FOR THE PERIOD 1971 TÓ 1976.

MORE PEOPLE ARE MOVING INTO THE NEW TERRITORIES. THE NEW TOWNS IN TSUEN WAN, TUEN MUN AND SHA TIN HAVE EXPERIENCED A SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH OF POPULATION DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS. MEANWHILE AS A RESULT OF PEOPLE MOVING OUT OF THE MAIN OLD URBAN AREAS, THERE WAS A LOSS OF POPULATION IN KOWLOON CITY AND WONG TAI SIN, KWUN TONG AND CHEUNG SHA WAN.

THE DECLINE WAS PARTICULARLY SURPRISING IN VIEW OF THE LARGE INCREASE IN THE OVERALL POPULATION DURING THIS PERIOD.

SHAM SHU PO WAS STILL THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED DISTRICT, WITH 165 000 PEOPLE PER SQUARE KILOMETRE, FOLLOWED BY MONG KOK AND HUNG HOM.

WITH THE LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE BORN IN THE LATE 50'S NOW REACHING ADULTHOOD, AND A STEADY DECLINE IN FERTILITY OVER THE PAST DECADE, HONG KONG'S POPULATION HAS BECOME OLDER. ITS MEDIAN AGE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, FROM 22 IN 1971 TO 26 IN 1981. THERE WAS A SMALLER PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION AGED BELOW 15 (25 PER CENT) AND A LARGER PROPORTION AGED 65 AND OVER (7 PER CENT). AS A RESULT OF THESE CHANGES, THE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION AGED 15 TO 64 INCREASED FROM 60 PER CENT IN 1971 TO 69 PER CENT IN 1981, SO THAT THERE IS A GREATER POTENTIALLY PRODUCTIVE POPULATION AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THE YOUNG AND THE OLD.

/SOME 98 PER