Mid-year Population for 2015
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     According to the statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department today (August 13), the provisional estimate of the Hong Kong Population was 7 298 600 at mid-2015, representing an increase of 56 900 or 0.8% from 7 241 700 at mid-2014 (Table 1).

     Obtained by subtracting the number of deaths from the number of births, the natural increase of the population from mid-2014 to mid-2015 amounted to 18 100. Over the same period, there was a net movement (i.e. inflow less outflow) of 38 800 Hong Kong residents.

     Births and inflow of One-way Permit holders (OWPHs) were important constituents of the overall population increase. The number of births from mid-2014 to mid-2015 was 62 600 and the inflow of OWPHs was 37 800.

     Deaths during the period, at 44 500, offset part of the increase. If OWPHs were excluded, there was a net inflow of 1 100 persons.

     The Hong Kong Population is measured on the definition of Resident Population, which comprises Usual Residents and Mobile Residents. Among the total population at mid-2015, 7 083 300 (provisional) were Usual Residents and 215 300 (provisional) were Mobile Residents.

     "Usual Residents" include two categories of people: (1) Hong Kong Permanent Residents who have stayed in Hong Kong for at least three months during the six months before or for at least three months during the six months after the reference time-point, regardless of whether they are in Hong Kong or not at the reference time-point; and (2) Hong Kong Non-permanent Residents who are in Hong Kong at the reference time-point.

     "Mobile Residents" are Hong Kong Permanent Residents who have stayed in Hong Kong for at least one month but less than three months during the six months before or for at least one month but less than three months during the six months after the reference time-point, regardless of whether they are in Hong Kong or not at the reference time-point.

     The revised figure for the year-end population for 2014 was 7 266 500. The number of Usual Residents was revised to 7 036 200 and the number of Mobile Residents to 230 300. The population growth rate from end-2013 to end-2014 remained at 0.6%.

     The population figures for recent years are shown in Table 2.

     Under the current practice, the latest population figure is released on a provisional basis in each round. The revised figure will be released six months later. In other words, while the provisional population figure for mid-2015 is released today, the corresponding revised figure will be released in February 2016.

Ends/Thursday, August 13, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:32

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