Statistics and You

Statistics is playing an increasingly important role in the day-to-day work in the Government and the private sector. As the central statistical office of Hong Kong, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) has been putting efforts to provide adequate, relevant, reliable and timely statistics for use by the Government and various sectors of the community.

From macro-economic analysis to daily administration and long-term planning of the Government, to decision-making of industrial and business firms, and to enhancing the general public’s understanding of the society and their participation in discussions about social policies, official statistics have a very important part to play in a wide range of endeavours. Some of the statistics that are closely related to our daily lives are introduced below.

• The provisional estimate of the Hong Kong population was about 7.53 million at mid-2024. The corresponding figure in 1841 was only about 7 500.
  
• Hong Kong people have a very long life expectancy. In 2023, the expectancy of life at birth for men and women was 83 years and 88 years respectively. Both represented an increase of some 7 years compared with 30 years ago. The expectations of life at birth for both sexes in Hong Kong are among the longest in developed economies.
  
• More and more Hong Kong people tend to organise small families. The proportion of domestic households comprising three members or less rose from 68% in 2013 to 74% in 2023.

• The overall employment in Hong Kong was around 3.71 million in 2023. Among which, relatively more employed persons were in the public administration, social and personal services industries (accounting for 30% of the overall employment) as well as the financing, insurance, real estate, professional and business services industries (23%).
  
• The labour market remained tight. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down from 3.1% in the first quarter of 2023 to 3.0% in the second quarter of 2024.
  
• In May – June 2023, the median hourly wage of employees in Hong Kong was HK$80.1.

• Hong Kong’s per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current market prices amounted to about HK$400,000 in 2023.
  
• The Hong Kong International Airport is the world’s busiest international freight airport. The air cargo throughput at the Airport was 4.3 million tonnes in 2023.
  
• In 2023, Hong Kong was ranked the 23^rd and 10^th in the world in terms of exports of commercial services and merchandise exports respectively. In Asia, Hong Kong was the 6^th largest exporter of commercial services and the 4^th largest exporter of merchandise goods.
  
• Hong Kong’s imports of goods are mainly from the mainland of China (the Mainland). For every HK$100 of imports of goods, HK$44 is from the Mainland.

• Among the four basic necessities of life, accommodation accounted for the largest share of household expenditure, representing about 38% of the expenditure weights in the Composite Consumer Price Index for the reference year of 2023.
  
• Overall consumer prices in Hong Kong in 2023 rose by 2.1% over a year earlier. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures to discern the inflationary trend more clearly, the underlying inflation rate in 2023 was 1.7%, remaining moderate. The year-on-year rate of change in overall consumer prices is commonly known as the inflation rate.
  
• In 2023, around 30% of the domestic households in Hong Kong were living in public rental housing.
  

The statistics presented above represent only a small part of the statistical information released by C&SD. Should you require more up-to-date social and economic statistics about Hong Kong, you may refer to the website of C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk).

Proper understanding of the concepts and definitions of different kinds of statistics is imperative for their correct interpretation and application. Besides providing statistical information to the public, C&SD is also prepared to give advice on the interpretation and application of statistics so as to maximise their utility to users.

You are welcome to approach C&SD for enquiries on statistical matters using the following telephone numbers, facsimile numbers and email addresses. In case more detailed information is needed, enquiries will be referred to the subject officers concerned.