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The provisional figure
for the population of Hong Kong at the
end of 2005 was 6 970 800, up
0.8 per cent over a year earlier. This
was due to 19 000 more births than deaths
and a net inflow of 36 100 residents.
Over the period 2000-2005, the average
annual growth rate of the population was
0.8 per cent.
In 2005, the birth rate1
was estimated at eight per 1 000,
slightly higher than the seven per 1 000
recorded every year from 2001 to 2004,
but about the same as that in 2000. The
death rate held stable at about five per
1 000 and, consequently, the rate
of natural increase rose from the two
per 1 000 recorded every year between
2001 and 2004 to three per 1 000
in 2005.
Ageing of the population
has continued. While the proportion of
people aged under 15 fell from 17 per
cent in 2000 to 14 per cent in 2005, the
proportion of people aged 65 and over
rose from 11 per cent to 12 per cent.
Correspondingly, the median age of the
population rose from 36 to 39 over the
same period.
The overall dependency
ratio (i.e. the ratio of people aged under
15 and those aged 65 and over to the population
of working age (15-64)) dropped from 386
per 1 000 in 2000 to 361 per 1 000
in 2005. This was attributable to a decline
in the proportion of children under 15,
which more than offset an increase in
the proportion of older people aged 65
and over in the same period.
The Task Force on Population
Policy, chaired by the Chief Secretary
for Administration, was established in
2002 to oversee the development of a comprehensive
population policy designed to fit Hong
Kong's long-term social and economic development.
It published its report in February 2003
and, since then, all the policy initiatives
in the report have been implemented or
are being carried out as ongoing measures.
The studies on portability and eligibility
of public benefits, retirement, admission
of professionals and talents, and measures
for encouraging childbirth have also been
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