Skip to Main Content

Home > By-census Results > Snapshot of Hong Kong Population

Click the icon to download the publication or feature article.
bcmenu-arrow
Main Content

Snapshot of Hong Kong Population

Enquiry Hotline: 3903 6944

2016 Population By-census results reveal latest demographic trends
  • Hong Kong population reached 7.34 million in 2016, more than doubled that in 1961
  • Hong Kong population was ageing rapidly, share of elderly in population increased to 16% while that of children declined to 11%
  • 60% of the population was born in Hong Kong
  • Sex ratio (number of males per 1 000 females) continued to decline since 1980s
  • Both women and men were postponing their marriage, on average 1 out of 6 persons aged 40 - 49 remained unmarried

Learn More

Educational Characteristics of Hong Kong Population
  • Educational attainment of Hong Kong population continued to improve, with almost one-third of the population having attended post-secondary education in 2016
  • School attendance rate of youths increased significantly
  • More young females than males were attending post-secondary education in 2016
  • “Business and commercial studies” remained as the most popular field among population attended post-secondary education in 2016
  • Close to 40% of pre-primary and primary students walked to school in 2016

Learn More

Economic Characteristics of Hong Kong Population
  • Labour force of Hong Kong continued to increase, reaching 395 million in 2016
  • Persons aged 65 and above in the labour force more than doubled over the past 10 years
  • Females’ participation in labour market increased for most age groups
  • More males than females were engaged in higher-skilled occupations in 2016
  • Almost half of the working population usually worked 40-49 hours weekly in 2016

Learn More

Domestic Households in Hong Kong
  • Domestic households in Hong Kong grew by 12.7% in the past 10 years, faster than the population (6.9%)
  • Small households had become increasingly common
  • With low level of fertility, proportion of households without children increased significantly
  • On average one in three households had at least one elderly member
  • Single elderly households increased significantly by over 50% during the past 10 years

Learn More

Housing Characteristics of Hong Kong Population
  • Number of occupied quarters in Hong Kong increased by around 0.3 million over the past 10 years
  • More than half of the population resided in private permanent housing
  • Proportion of domestic households resided in the quarters they owned decreased
  • Owner-occupiers in private permanent housing incurred a median monthly mortgage payment of $10,500 in 2016
  • Rental households in private permanent housing recorded a median monthly rent of $10,000

Learn More

Internal Migration and Home Moving Characteristics of Hong Kong Population
  • On average around one in five persons had changed their residence in the past 5 years
  • 40% of the population who had internally migrated moved to new towns
  • Persons aged 25-44 were more likely to migrate internally
  • Persons who had internally migrated generally had higher educational attainment
  • Higher income households were more likely to migrate internally

Learn More

Hong Kong Population in New Towns
  • The new town population was 3.44 million in 2016, constituting 46.9% of the total population in Hong Kong. This represented an increase of 6.1% over 2006
  • Over the past 10 years, the North Lautau new town recorded the largest population growth (19.7%), followed by the Tseung Kwan O new town (15.5%), the Yuen Long new town (15.4%), the Ma On Shan new town (11.8%) and the Fanling/Sheung Shui new town (10.5%)
  • In 2016, the Tuen Mun new town had the largest population size among all new towns, followed by the Sha Tin new town and the Tseung Kwan O new town. The North Lautau new town had the smallest population
  • The Kwai Chung new town had the highest proportion (67.2%) of population residing in public rental housing, followed by the Tin Shui Wai new town (59.4%) and the North Lantau new town (49.4%). The Yuen Long new town, the Tsuen Wan new town and the Tai Po new town had a relatively large proportion of population residing in private permanent housing, at 79.3%, 76.4% and 52.0% respectively

Learn More

Use of Language by Hong Kong Population
  • Over half of the Hong Kong population aged 5 and over was able to speak English or Putonghua
  • Other than Cantonese and Putonghua, the three most common Chinese dialects spoken by the Hong Kong population were Hakka, Fukien and Chiu Chau
  • The literacy of the Hong Kong population was high, 96% of the population aged 5 and over was able to read at least one language
  • Over 80% of the higher-skilled workers in the Hong Kong working population were able to read and write both Chinese and English
  • Over 90% of persons aged 6-24 attending full-time courses in educational institutions in Hong Kong were able to read and write both Chinese and English

Learn More

Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong
  • The number of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong increased significantly by around 70% over the past 10 years, reaching some
    584 000 in 2016
  • The major ethnic groups included Filipinos, Indonesians, South Asians, Mixed and Whites, with most Filipinos and Indonesians being foreign domestic helpers
  • Compared to the older generation, more young ethnic minorities (excluding foreign domestic helpers) were born in Hong Kong
  • Over 60% of ethnic minorities (excluding foreign domestic helpers) aged 5-14 were able to read or write Chinese
  • Among the married ethnic minorities who were living with their spouse in the same household, more Thai, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean females had Chinese spouses. For males, more White and Indonesian males had Chinese spouses

Learn More

Characteristics of Persons Living in Subdivided Units
  • There were some 92 700 subdivided units (SDUs) in Hong Kong, accommodating some 209 700 persons
  • About 60% SDUs were located in Kowloon, concentrating in the Yau Tsim Mong district and the Sham Shui Po district
  • Among persons living in SDUs, there were more children and young to middle-aged persons
  • About 10% of non-Chinese were living in SDUs, higher than the corresponding proportion of the whole population (3%)
  • The median floor area of accommodation of households living in SDUs was 10.0 square metres, and the median monthly rental payment was $4,500
  • The median monthly household income of households living in SDUs was $13,500

Learn More



Last revision date: 23 February 2018

back to top