ENG-1959 — Page 36

Chapter 2: Population

THE total civilian population at the end of 1959 was estimated to be 2,919,000 of whom less than 1% was non-Chinese. It was decided during the year that a census of the population should be conducted in March 1961 and until the results of that census become known, the basis of the population estimates should remain unchanged. Thereafter, an accurate figure will be available.

The last population census was held in 1931 when the civilian population was found to be 840,473. Another census should have been held in 1941, but the unsettled conditions following the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, the fluctuations in population following the attack on Canton in 1938, and later the Japanese invasion of the Colony, caused the plan to be abandoned. The influx of immigrants to which Hong Kong has been subjected since the end of the war has been one of the main considerations which have so far made the holding of a census impracticable.

An unofficial count by air-raid wardens in 1941 before the Japanese attack put the population at about 1,600,000. This number was greatly reduced during the occupation and it is estimated that the total amounted to less than 600,000 when the Colony was liberated in August 1945.

The population grew rapidly after the liberation, and by the end of 1946 it was believed that the immediately pre-war level of 1,600,000 had been reached. An assessment of the population in September 1949 by the then Department of Statistics put the total at 1,857,000.

Estimates for subsequent years have been based mainly on the birth and death registration figures and on the arrival and departure figures modified, where necessary, by additional infor- mation available at the time of making the estimate.

The population problem is complicated by illegal immigrants who may have added considerably to the estimates given above and who, during 1959, are thought to have numbered very approxi- mately 30,000, though this figure has not been taken into account