ENG-1976 — Page 283

POPULATION

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but for the New Territories it was 554 per square kilometre. These area densities will of course change in the future with the development of more new towns in the New Territories-notably at Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. They are being developed to alleviate high densities in existing urban areas and to cope with the prospect of an increasing population.

The population of Hong Kong is still a very young one-about 42 per cent of the population in 1976 was below the age of 20. But the median age of the popula- tion-which 10 years ago was 20.1-is now 23.7 years. The proportions between the different sections of the population have also changed considerably. In 1966, some 40.9 per cent of the population was under 15; now it is 30.2 per cent. The relative figure for those aged 65 and over has risen from 3.8 per cent to 5.7 per cent. This indicates that there is a greater potentially productive population (aged 15-64) avail- able to support the infants, those who are being educated, or those who have retired. The dependency ratio-the ratio of the young and the retired to all those in the 15-64 age group-dropped from 809 per thousand in 1966 to 561 per thousand in 1976.

The lower proportion of the population in the under 15 age group is the result of a decline in the birth rate-which is low even compared with some developed countries. The absolute number of births also dropped, from 91,832 in 1966 to 78,486 in 1976. This decline in the birth rate is partly the result of women having fewer children and partly due to a decrease within the prime child bearing age groups in the number of currently married women. In recent years, later marriages have also contributed, while improvements in education and job opportunities for women have almost certainly played their part.

There was a general decline in mortality after 1951. The death rate dropped to the level of about five per thousand in 1964, since when it has remained much the same. The average life-span of both males and females has increased by seven per cent over the past 16 years, but male and female expectations of life at birth are still very different. Females born in 1976 should live, on average, 7.55 years longer than males; their expectations of life at birth were 75.54 years and 67.99 years respectively.

More than 98 per cent of the population can be described as Chinese on the basis of language and place of origin. At the end of 1976, the number of non-Hong Kong Commonwealth citizens residing in Hong Kong totalled 47,450. These com- prised: British 21,177 (excluding members of the Armed Forces); Indian 7,785; Australian 5,002; Singaporean 2,863; Canadian 2,410; and other Commonwealth countries 8,213. The number of non-Commonwealth alien residents was 29,886, of which the largest groups were: American 6,702; Portuguese 3,844; Pakistani 3,771; Filipino 3,240; Indonesian 1,554; German 1,212; Japanese 1,095; Korean 751; French 715; and Dutch 523.

About 59 per cent of the population is of Hong Kong birth. Most of these people, and the greater part of the immigrant population, originated from Kwangtung Pro- vince in China. The Cantonese group forms the biggest community while the second biggest group is Sze Yap, followed by the Chiu Chow group. The remaining Chinese