ENG-2000 — Page 78

THE ECONOMY

The structural transformation in the economy was also shown up in the variation in sectoral composition of employment. The share of the services sector in total employment leaped from 48 per cent in 1980 to 63 per cent in 1990, and further to about 82 per cent in 2000. On the other hand, the share of the manufacturing sector in total employment contracted noticeably, from 42 per cent in 1980 to 28 per cent in 1990, and further to only about 7 per cent in 2000.

Chart 3

1980

Employment by broad economic sector

Secondary production 50.1%

2000*

Secondary production

17.3%

Primary production 1.5%

Primary production 0.4%

Tertiary production 48.4%

Tertiary production 82.3%

Upon the ongoing relocation of the lower value-added and less skill-intensive manufacturing processes to the Mainland, as well as the strong expansion in service activities in Hong Kong, the tertiary services sector has overtaken the secondary sector since 1981 to become the largest employer in the economy.

* Average of Q1 to Q3 2000.

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The Services Sector

The services sector has not only flourished but also diversified in types of activities, along with the structural change in the economy. Amongst the various service industries, community, social and personal services, and finance and business services have registered particularly rapid growth over the past two decades. In the more recent years, an accelerated growth was also observed in telecommunications services, especially those related to e-commerce and Internet applications, in line with the further restructuring of the economy more towards knowledge-based and higher value-added activities.

Between 1990 and 2000, both exports of services and imports of services exhibited strong growth, by an annual average of 6 per cent and 5 per cent respectively in real terms. Within exports of services, transportation had the largest share of 34 per cent, followed by offshore trading and purchasing/merchandising services (33 per cent), travel and tourism (18 per cent), and financial and banking services (6 per cent). On imports of services, travel and tourism were the most important, accounting for 56 per cent in 1999. Transportation services ranked second (with a share of 19 per cent),