"2016 Population By-census Thematic Report : Persons from the Mainland Having Resided in Hong Kong for Less Than 7 Years" published

Published date: 11 January 2018

According to the results of the 2016 Population By-census, there were 165 956 persons from the mainland of China having resided in Hong Kong for less than seven years (PMRs) in 2016.

PMRs refer to persons who reported that they (i) were born in the mainland of China (Mainland); (ii) were of Chinese nationality with place of domicile in Hong Kong; and (iii) had stayed in Hong Kong for less than seven years.

It should be noted that persons who were admitted to Hong Kong via the One-way Permit (OWP) Scheme but had returned to stay in the Mainland most of the time or migrated to other countries subsequently are not counted in the Hong Kong Resident Population and hence excluded from the figures of PMRs. Besides, persons from the Mainland who reported their place of domicile not in Hong Kong are also excluded. Examples of such persons may include those from the Mainland who stayed in Hong Kong for employment or study for a short period of time. Furthermore, PMRs do not include persons who were not yet Hong Kong Permanent Residents and were not in Hong Kong at the reference moment of Population Census/ By-census. This is because they are not counted in the Hong Kong Resident Population, despite that some of them were residing in Hong Kong on a long term basis.

The number of PMRs dropped markedly from 217 103 in 2006 to 165 956 in 2016. This was mainly due to the fact that fewer OWP holders had entered Hong Kong over the past 10 years. Accordingly, the proportion of PMRs to the whole population (excluding foreign domestic helpers) decreased from 3.3% in 2006 to 2.4% in 2016.

About 40% of PMRs in 2016 were women aged 25 to 44 and most of them were OWP holders who came to Hong Kong to join their husbands. About 16% of the PMRs were children aged under 15. The number of PMRs aged under 15 dropped significantly from 63 335 in 2006 to 26 368 in 2016 and this accounted for more than 70% of the decrease in the number of PMRs over the same period. In 2016, the median age of PMRs at 33.9, though higher than the figure in 2006, remained notably lower than that of the whole population at 44.3.

The educational attainment of PMRs had shown improvement in the past decade. The proportion of PMRs aged 15 and over who had attended post-secondary education increased notably from 7.9% in 2006 to 19.5% in 2016.

In addition, increasingly more PMRs had entered into the labour market. The number of PMRs in the labour force rose from 70 255 in 2006 to 75 588 in 2016, with the labour force participation rate of PMRs increasing from 45.7% to 54.2% during the same period.

There were 117 523 domestic households with at least one household member being PMRs in 2016, representing 4.7% of all domestic households in Hong Kong. Domestic households with PMRs tended to be larger in size because many PMRs came to Hong Kong to join their next of kin and were more likely to live with their family members. The average size of these households was 3.3 in 2016, higher than that of 2.8 for all domestic households. About 80% (80.5%) of female PMRs aged 18 and over were living with their spouses and/or children whereas the corresponding proportion for male PMRs aged 18 and over was about 50% (51.9%).

Further details about the characteristics of PMRs are available in the publication entitled "2016 Population By-census Thematic Report: Persons from the Mainland Having Resided in Hong Kong for Less Than 7 Years" which has been published today (January 11). Users can download this publication free of charge from the thematic website of the 2016 Population By-census (www.bycensus2016.gov.hk/en/bc-articles.html) and the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp459.jsp).

Enquiries about this publication and the results of the 2016 Population By-census can be directed to the 2016 Population By-census Office of the C&SD (Tel: 3547 1800, or email: bycensus2016@censtatd.gov.hk).

Last revision date: 11 January 2018