ENG-1994 — Page 501

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POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION –

THE population of Hong Kong was estimated at 6 149 100 at the end of 1994 - an increase of 2.1 per cent from the estimate a year earlier. This was due to 42,900 more births than deaths and a net inflow of 86 300 arrivals.

There were 3 123 700 males and 3 025 400 females.

The population figure represented an increase of 13.2 per cent on the 1984 population estimate of 5 430 900. The annual growth rate averaged 1.2 per cent over the 10-year period.

The birth rate continued to decline, from 14 per 1 000 in 1984 to 12 per 1 000 in 1994, while the death rate remained stable at about five per 1000. Consequently, the rate of natural increase dropped from 9.6 to 7.0 per 1 000 over the 10-year period.

As a result of the declining birth rate, the proportion of population aged under 15 years dropped from 23.8 per cent in 1984 to 19.4 per cent in 1994. On the other hand, the proportion of people aged 65 years and above rose from 7.2 per cent to 9.3 per cent over the same period. The dependency ratio — the ratio of the young and the aged to people in the 15 years to 64 years age group — dropped from 449 per 1 000 in 1984 to 404 per 1 000 in 1994.

Compared with 10 years ago, the ratio of males to females declined. In 1994, there were 1 032 males per 1 000 females; in 1984, the figure was 1 073.

With its land area of only 1 084 square kilometre's, Hong Kong is one of the most densely- populated places in the world. The overall population density per square kilometre was 5 790 in 1994. The density on Hong Kong Island, and in Kowloon and New Kowloon, which together represent the territory's older urban areas, was 25 920 people per square kilometre, while that in the New Territories, which includes most of the new towns, was only 2 860 per square kilometre. The proportion of the resident population on Hong Kong Island was 21.8 per cent; in Kowloon and New Kowloon it was 32.8 per cent; and in the New Territories it was 45.1 per cent.

More statistics on the population of Hong Kong are given in Appendix 32.

On the Vietnamese migrant population front, Hong Kong welcomed in February the decision of the Fifth Steering Committee of the International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees in Geneva, under which all Vietnamese migrants should be removed from local camps by the end of 1995. All migrants who have been determined to be non-refugees will have to return to Vietnam, either voluntarily or under the orderly repatriation programme.

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