"2016 Population By-census Thematic Report: Youths" published

Published date: 12 February 2018

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published today (February 12) the publication “2016 Population By-census Thematic Report: Youths”, providing detailed statistics of the characteristics of youths in 2016.

According to the results of the 2016 Population By-census, there were a total of 776 709 youths in 2016, constituting 11.1% of the whole population in Hong Kong. The number of youths decreased over the past 10 years, from 880 175 in 2006 to 776 709 in 2016.

Youths in this report refer to population aged 15 to 24 for both sexes. To facilitate more concrete analyses of the characteristics of the local youth population, all analyses related to youths (including the comparisons against the whole population) presented in the report do not include foreign domestic helpers.

In 2016, 43.9% of youths were aged 15-19 and the remaining 56.1 % aged 20-24. The sex ratio (i.e. number of males per 1 000 females) of the youth population was 1 044, which indicates that the number of male youths was greater than that of females. In particular, the sex ratio in the age group 15-19 (1 075) was higher than that in the age group 20-24 (1 020).

Analysed by ethnicity, 96.4% of youths were Chinese in 2016, followed by South Asians (1.4%) and Whites (0.5%). South Asians included Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese, Bangladeshis and Sri-Lankans. The population of non-Chinese youths increased by more than one-fold from 13 117 (1.5%) in 2006 to 27 651 (3.6%) in 2016.

In 2016, 98.0% and 97.1% of the youth population reported that they were able to read and write Chinese respectively, higher than the proportions of the whole population aged 5 and over (at 93.5% and 91.2% respectively). The proportions of youths who were able to read and write English were 96.4% and 94.9% respectively, which were significantly higher than the proportions of the whole population aged 5 and over (at 67.5% and 65.3% respectively). In addition, 62.2% of the youth population reported as being “biliterate and trilingual" (having the ability to read and write both Chinese and English, as well as speak Cantonese, Putonghua and English), significantly higher than that of the whole population aged 5 and over (35.5%).

In the past ten years, the youth population with post-secondary education increased considerably both in number and in their share of the population. In 2006, 275 328 youths (or 31.3% of the youth population) had attended post-secondary education, whereas by 2016 the number reached 395 079 (or 50.9% of the youth population).

As youths tended to join the labour market at a later age amid increasing educational opportunities, coupled with the decrease in the youth population during the past 10 years, the number of working youths decreased from 359 923 in 2006 to 289 787 in 2016.

In 2016, a large proportion of the working youths were engaged as “Service and sales workers” (35.6%) and “Clerical support workers” (22.9%). Youths were highly represented in these occupations compared to the total working population (with corresponding proportions being 18.8% and 15.5%).

In line with the improvement in their level of educational attainment, the proportion of working youths engaged in the three higher-skilled occupational groups, viz. “managers and administrators”, “professionals” and “associate professionals”, increased from 23.0% in 2011 to 28.4% in 2016.

In 2016, the median monthly income from main employment of the working youths, at $10,750, was about 70% of the median income ($15,500) of the whole working population. The comparatively lower median income of youths compared to the whole working population may be related to the occupations and industries they were engaged in, their educational attainment, their limited working experience and fewer working hours. Indeed, many youths were working on a part-time basis while studying. In 2016, 27.0% of the working youths had weekly usual hours of work of less than 35 hours, higher than the corresponding proportion of the whole working population, at 15.3%.

An overwhelming majority (94.0%) of youths were living with their parent(s) only and in contrast, 1.2% of youths were living on their own. Analysed by type of housing, 46.6% of youths were living in private permanent housing and 37.5% in public rental housing.

The report also contains more detailed statistics of the characteristics of youths. Users can download the report free of charge at 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: 12 February 2018