XN000022-1981-11-09 — Page 3

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1981

SOME 98 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION WERE OF HONG KONG OR CHINA ORIGIN. OTHER GROUPS INCLUDED 26 000 BRITISH, 12 000 INDIANS AND PAKISTANIS, AND 29 000 FROM COUNTRIES IN SOUTH EAST ASIA.

THE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION BORN IN HONG KONG ONLY INCREASED FROM 56 PER CENT TO 57 PER CENT DURING THE PAST TEN YEARS. THE INCREASE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE SIGNIFICANT HAD THERE NOT BEEN THE LARGE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS FROM 1978 TO 1980.

AS A RESULT OF THE DECLINE IN FERTILITY DURING THE PAST DECADE, THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF LIVE BIRTHS TO EVER-MARRIED WOMEN DROPPED FROM 3.4 TO 2.5.

THE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF THE POPULATION HAS IMPROVED MARKEDLY. THE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION WITH SECONDARY EDUCATION OR ABOVE INCREASED FROM 26 PER CENT IN 1971 TO 45 PER CENT IN 1981, WHILE THE PROPORTION WITH NO SCHOOLING OR ONLY PRIMARY EDUCATION DECREASED. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE FOR THE SIX TO 11 AGE GROUP ROSE FROM 95 PER CENT IN 1971 TO 98 PER CENT IN 1981.

OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE HAD UNDERTAKEN OR WERE UNDERTAKING STUDY IN POST-SECONDARY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, THE POLYTECHNIC, TECHNICAL INSTITUTES, COLLEGES OF EDUCATION, THE SCHOOL OF NURSING, ETC.

ALMOST THREE-QUARTERS OF THEM HAD UNDERTAKEN OR WERE UNDERTAKING VOCATIONAL COURSES, AND THE MAJORITY OF THESE WERE IN THE FIELDS OF BUSINESS STUDIES, ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY.

THE LABOUR FORCE OF HONG KONG HAS BECOME YOUNGER DURING THE PAST DECADE. THE MEDIAN AGE WAS 31, COMPARED WITH 35 TEN YEARS AGO. THERE WERE ALSO MORE WOMEN WORKING.

THE AVERAGE ANNUAL RATE OF INCREASE OF THE LABOUR FORCE OVER THE 10-YEAR PERIOD WAS 4.5 PER CENT, AS AGAINST THE LOWER RATE OF FOUR PER CENT FOR THE POPULATION AGED 15 AND OVER. THE LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE IN MARCH WAS 66.8 PER CENT, AND UNEMPLOYMENT FOUR PER CENT.

MORE PEOPLE WERE EMPLOYED AS PROFESSIONAL, TECHNICAL CLERICAL AND SERVICE WORKERS. HALF OF THE WORKING POPULATION WERE PRODUCTION AND RELATED WORKERS, TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT OPERATORS AND LABOURERS, WHICH IS A SLIGHTLY LOWER PROPORTION THAN IN 1971.

FEWER PEOPLE PROPORTIONATELY WERE IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR (41 PER CENT) THAN TEN YEARS AGO (47 PER CENT).

ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE WERE MORE PEOPLE EMPLOYED IN WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE, RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS, CONSTRUCTION, AND SERVICES.

ON AVERAGE, HOURS WORKED PER WEEK WERE LOWER IN 1981 THAN IN 1971, 50 HOURS AS COMPARED WITH 56. SOME 34 000 EMPLOYEES, LESS THAN TWO PER CENT OF TOTAL EMPLOYEES, HAD A SECONDARY OCCUPATION.

THE OVERALL,