ENG-1997 — Page 488

CHAPTER 24

POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION

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HONG KONG's population was estimated at 6 617 100 at end-1997 —— up 3 per cent from a year earlier. This was due to 28 100 more births than deaths and a net inflow of 167 700 persons. The annual population growth rate over the decade averaged 1.7 per cent.

The birth rate continued to decline, from 13 per 1 000 in 1987 to nine per 1 000 in 1997, while the death rate remained at about five per 1 000. Consequently, the rate of natural increase dropped from eight to four per 1 000 over the decade.

Ageing of the population continued. The median age of the population rose from 29 in 1987 to 35 in 1997. The proportion of the population aged under 15 years fell from 23 per cent in 1987 to 18 per cent in 1997, while that aged 65 years and over rose from 8 per cent to 10 per cent. The age dependency ratio the ratio of the young and the aged to people of age 15 to 64 dropped from 438 per 1 000 in 1987 to 398

per 1 000 in 1997.

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With its land area of only 1 096 square kilometres, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. The overall population density per square kilometre was 6 160 in 1997. Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, which represent Hong Kong's older urban areas, had 27 230 people per square kilometre, while the New Territories, which includes new towns, had only 3 220 people per square kilometre. More statistics are given in Appendix 34.

Immigration Department

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) remains a separate travel area after reunification. The Basic Law provides that the Government of the HKSAR may apply immigration controls on entry into, stay in and departure from the Region by persons from foreign states and regions. Entry into the HKSAR of persons from the mainland of China is regulated in accordance with the previous practice.

The Immigration Department is tasked to exercise these functions. Apart from controlling the movement of people into and out of the HKSAR, the department provides services to local residents including the issue of HKSAR passports and other travel documents, visas and identity cards, the handling of nationality matters and the registration of births, deaths and marriages. Considerable effort also goes into detecting and prosecuting immigration law offenders, and removing illegal immigrants.

Policies are framed to limit to an acceptable level population growth brought about by immigration, and to control the entry of foreign workers. Immigration procedures