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DSR 11C (Revised 5/87)
May 1988 the Hong Kong Government established a task
force to obtain the clearest possible picture of current
emigration trends. After careful study of the available
data, it estimated that between 1981 and 1986 emigration
averaged about 20,000 per year. In 1987 the level of
emigration was about 30,000 and in 1988 it was about
45,000. Of those emigrating in 1988, the task force
estimated that about 11,000 belonged to the professional,
administrative and managerial class. It was also
estimated that several thousand former Hong Kong
residents return to Hong Kong every year, often having
acquired foreign nationality. The net loss of qualified
people is therefore somewhat less than the numbers of
those emigrating.
51. There are likely to be a number of different reasons
for these trends. Uncertainty about the future is
undoubtedly one factor in people's decisions to emigrate,
though of course the traditional reasons remain valid.
It is also relevant that there are now greater
opportunities for Hong Kong people to emigrate,
particularly in the main destination countries: for
example, the number of people emigrating to Canada has
risen from 7,900 in 1984 to 24,600 in 1988.
52. Despite the outflow, the overall stock of skilled
and professional people in the community continues to
grow, mainly because of the increasing numbers of newly
qualified people who enter the job market from the
universities and other tertiary institutions.
The
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