# Hong Kong Fact Sheets/Population (April 2015)

​HONG KONG: THE FACTS
Population
Population Size: At mid-2014, the population of Hong Kong was 7.24 million, including 7.03 million Usual Residents and 0.22 million Mobile Residents.
During the period 2010 to 2014, the population grew at an average annual rate of 0.8%. Population in these years was as follows:
| Year | Mid-year population | Annual rate of increase | Sex ratio (males per 1 000 females) |
| 2010 | 7 024 200 | 0.7 | 883 |
| 2011 | 7 071 600 | 0.7 | 876 |
| 2012 | 7 154 600 | 1.2 | 869 |
| 2013 | 7 187 500 | 0.5 | 864 |
| 2014 | 7 241 700 | 0.8 | 858 |
Distribution by Area: At mid-2014, the population was distributed geographically as follows:
| Area | % of total population |
| Hong Kong Island | 17.5 |
| Kowloon | 30.3 |
| New Territories (including marine) | 52.5 |
| Total | 100.0 |
Population Density: Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. The land population density as at mid-2014 stood at 6 690 persons per square kilometre, and Kwun Tong, with 57 250 persons per square kilometre, was the most densely populated district among the District Council districts.
$^‡$ ↑ Excluding marine population and area of reservoirs.
Age and Sex Structure: At mid-2014, there were 858 males per 1 000 females. The median age of the total population was 42.8. The age and sex structure of the population was given as follows:
| Age Group | Male | Male | Female | Female | Total | Total |
| Age Group | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| 0–14 | 415 200 | 5.7 | 389 200 | 5.4 | 804 400 | 11.1 |
| 15–24 | 421 400 | 5.8 | 413 800 | 5.7 | 835 200 | 11.5 |
| 25–34 | 457 200 | 6.3 | 639 800 | 8.8 | 1 097 000 | 15.1 |
| 35–44 | 466 500 | 6.4 | 673 000 | 9.3 | 1 139 500 | 15.7 |
| 45–54 | 568 500 | 7.9 | 679 600 | 9.4 | 1 248 100 | 17.2 |
| 55–64 | 519 300 | 7.2 | 532 300 | 7.4 | 1 051 600 | 14.5 |
| 65 and over | 497 000 | 6.9 | 568 900 | 7.9 | 1 065 900 | 14.7 |
| Total | 3 345 100 | 46.2 | 3 896 600 | 53.8 | 7 241 700 | 100.0 |
Births and Deaths: Fertility rate in Hong Kong has continued to remain at a low level. It has also attained a very low level of mortality by international standards. Birth and death rates are given as follows:
| Year | Crude birth rate (per 1 000 population) | Total fertility rate (per 1 000 women) | Crude death rate (per 1 000 population) | Expectation of life at birth for males (years) | Expectation of life at birth for females (years) | Infant mortality rate (per 1 000 live births) |
| 2010 | 12.6 | 1 127 | 6.0 | 80.1 | 86.0 | 1.7 |
| 2011 | 13.5 | 1 204 | 6.0 | 80.3 | 86.7 | 1.3 |
| 2012 | 12.8 | 1 285 | 6.1 | 80.7 | 86.4 | 1.5 |
| 2013 | 7.9 | 1 124 | 6.0 | 81.1 | 86.7 | 1.8 |
| 2014 | 8.6 | 1 235 | 6.2 | 81.2 | 86.7 | 1.6 |
$^λ$ ↑ Total fertility rate refers to the average number of children that would be born alive to 1 000 women during their lifetime if they were to pass through their childbearing ages 15-49 experiencing the age specific fertility rates prevailing in a given year. These figures have been compiled using a population denominator which has excluded female foreign domestic helpers.
​The birth rate remained low (12.6 live births per 1 000 population in 2010 to 8.6 in 2014). Moreover, according to the total fertility rate, 1 000 women in 2014 would bear, on average, 1 235 children in their lifetime as compared with 1 127 children in 2010.
In 2014, the death rate was 6.2 per 1 000 population. The expectation of life at birth was 81.2 years for males and 86.7 years for females, compared against the corresponding figures of 80.1 and 86.0 years in 2010.
There was a decline in the infant mortality rate from 1.7 per 1 000 live births in 2010 to 1.6 in 2014. The decline reflected a continual improvement in maternal and child health services.
Education: The educational level of the population of Hong Kong has improved appreciably over the past 5 years. The following table compares the educational attainment of the population aged 15 and over for 2010 and 2014:
| Educational attainment | % of population aged 15 and over | % of population aged 15 and over |
| Educational attainment | 2010 | 2014 |
| Primary and below | 22.1 | 19.6 |
| Secondary | 52.0 | 50.5 |
| Post-secondary | 25.8 | 29.8 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Income: The median monthly domestic household income for 2014 was $23,500. The distribution of domestic households in Hong Kong by monthly household income was as follows:
| Monthly household income ($) | % of total domestic households |
| Under 4,000 | 5.4 |
| 4,000–5,999 | 5.3 |
| 6,000–7,999 | 4.8 |
| 8,000–9,999 | 4.9 |
| 10,000–14,999 | 11.3 |
| 15,000–19,999 | 10.6 |
| 20,000–24,999 | 9.9 |
| 25,000–29,999 | 7.7 |
| 30,000–34,999 | 7.3 |
| 35,000–39,999 | 5.4 |
| 40,000–44,999 | 4.6 |
| 45,000–49,999 | 3.5 |
| 50,000–59,999 | 5.5 |
| 60,000–79,999 | 6.1 |
| 80,000–99,999 | 2.9 |
| 100,000 and over | 4.7 |
| Total | 100.0 |
Labour Force Participation Rate: The size of the total labour force in Hong Kong for 2014 was 3.88 million. This represented 61.1% of the total population aged 15 and over. The following table shows the labour force participation rates of the population by age and sex:
| Age group | Male (%) | Female (%) |
| 15–19 | 11.1 | 12.5 |
| 20–24 | 61.5 | 61.4 |
| 25–29 | 93.4 | 86.3 |
| 30–34 | 96.6 | 81.5 |
| 35–39 | 96.4 | 76.4 |
| 40–44 | 95.7 | 73.7 |
| 45–49 | 93.8 | 72.4 |
| 50–54 | 91.8 | 64.2 |
| 55–59 | 81.4 | 48.8 |
| 60–64 | 56.2 | 26.2 |
| 65 and over | 14.3 | 3.7 |
| Overall | 68.8 | 54.6 |
Occupation: The distribution of the employed population in Hong Kong by occupation for 2014 was as follows:
| Occupation | % of the employed population |
| Managers and administrators | 10.5 |
| Professionals | 7.5 |
| Associate professionals | 19.9 |
| Clerical support workers | 13.8 |
| Service and sales workers | 16.8 |
| Craft and related workers | 6.7 |
| Plant and machine operators and assemblers | 4.7 |
| Elementary occupations | 20.0 |
| Others | 0.1 |
| Total | 100.0 |
Housing: The distribution of the land-based non-institutional population of Hong Kong by type of housing for 2014 was as follows:
| Type of housing | % of land-based non-institutional population |
| Public rental housing | 29.3 |
| Subsidised home ownership housing | 16.6 |
| Private permanent housing | 53.5 |
| Temporary housing | 0.6 |
| Total | 100.0 |
The following notes are used in this fact sheet :
There may be a slight discrepancy between the sum of individual items and the total as shown in the tables due to rounding.
* ↑ Provisional figures.
* ↑ Figures are compiled based on data collected in the General Household Survey from January to December of the year concerned as well as the mid-year population estimates by District Council district compiled jointly by the Census and Statistics Department and an inter-departmental Working Group on Population Distribution Projections. The General Household Survey covers the land-based non-institutional population of Hong Kong.
| Published by the Information Services Department, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government GovHK Website: http://www.gov.hk Information contained in this publication may be freely used. No acknowledgement is necessary. | Census and Statistics Department Website: http://www.censtatd.gov.hk | April 2015 |
This work is in the public domain because it is taken from the Hong Kong Fact Sheets published by the Hong Kong Government. The Government has allowed information on the Hong Kong Fact Sheets to be used freely and without acknowledgement.
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