XN000022-1996-01-17 — Page 26

Reply:

(c)

(a)

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15 -

whether, according to the demographic structure of the population on the islands concerned, the number of elderly people aged 65 or above will increase in the next five years and ten years; if so, whether the services mentioned in (b) above can meet the present and future demands for such services on those islands?

Based on the latest statistics obtained from the General Household Survey, the number of elderly persons aged 65 and above living in the Islands District Board District in 1994 was estimated to be 5,700, representing some 13% of the 44,800 persons of all ages in the District. Due to the relatively small sample size of the survey, a further breakdown by island and to show whether the elderly persons were living alone would be subject to a high margin of error due to small sample size. Reliable estimates cannot, therefore, be provided in this regard.

It may be useful to note that, according to the 1991 Population Census, the distribution of the elderly population by individual island is as follows:

No. of elderly persons aged 65 and above

Total no.

Elderly as a percentage of

of persons

the total

Lantau and

1,957

18.864

10.4%

associated

islands

Cheung Chau

2.374

21.517

11.0%

Peng Chau

446

3,280

13.6%

Lamma and

393

2,971

13.2%

Po Toi

Total

5,170

46,632

11.1%