ENG-1972 — Page 258

POPULATION

Births and Deaths

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The registration of births and deaths is compulsory, and facilities for registration are provided throughout Hong Kong. The General Register Office is situated at Li Po Chun Chambers, Connaught Road Central, Victoria, where all records of births and deaths are maintained. Sub-registries have been established in all main urban and rural districts, while in outlying areas and islands, births are registered at rural committee offices by visiting district registrars and deaths are registered at local police stations.

The statutory period during which a birth should be registered, and is registered without fee, is 42 days from the date of birth. Between the end of the 42-day period and the expiration of one year from the date of birth, the birth may be registered upon payment of a fee of $2. During the year, 79,053 live births and 21,145 deaths were registered, compared with 76,818 and 20,253 respectively in 1971. These figures, when adjusted for under-registration, give a natural increase in population for 1972 of about 58,212. The number_of illegitimate children registered with or without the name of the father in the birth entry, totalled 1,058 in 1972.

A birth which has not been registered within one year after the date of birth may be post-registered with the consent of the Registrar and on payment of a fee of $15. During the year, 1,380 such births were post-registered, including 416 in the New Territories. The principal reason given for non-registration at the time of birth was simple negligence, but there continue to be a number of cases where non-registration was due to the fact that facilities for registration were not available until 1932, and also some cases relating to births in the war years when there was no registration of births. However, in most cases during the last year, applications for post-registration have been in respect of minors. The New Territories cases are dealt with at local sub- registries or by mobile registration teams. All applications for post-registration are passed to a legal officer in the Registrar General's Department for final approval.

The General Register Office is responsible for the collection of vital statistics throughout Hong Kong. The information is recorded on various statistical forms and coding sheets for card punching and data processing by computer.

Marriages

X

All marriages are governed by the Marriage Ordinance and the Marriage Reform Ordinance. Under the Marriage Ordinance, notice of an intended marriage must be given to the Registrar at least 15 clear days before the date of the marriage. The Reg- istrar has discretion to reduce the period of notice in special circumstances, and the Governor has power to grant a special licence dispensing with notice altogether, but this is done very rarely and then only in the most exceptional circumstances.

Marriages may take place either at places of public worship licensed for the cele- bration of marriages or at any of the 13 full-time marriage registries and 14 part-time sub-registries located in the main urban districts and rural centres. During the year, 25,006 marriages were performed in the registries and 2,258 at licensed places of worship. The total was 27,264; or 360 more than in 1971. All marriage records are maintained at the principal marriage registry at the City Hall.