Major developments of the Census and Statistics Department (1967 - 2012)
|
Year |
Major developments |
|
|---|---|---|
 Mr K M A Barnett |
1967 |
Census and Statistics Department set up in December
|
|
1968 |
Compilation of trade statistics computerised | |
|
1969 |
Moved to International Building at Des Voeux Road Central | |
 Mr K W J Topley |
1970 |
Mr K W J Topley appointed as Commissioner |
| First issue of Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics published | ||
| Social Club formed | ||
|
1971 |
Hong Kong Government Statistical Clerks Association formed | |
| Census of Manufacturing Establishments conducted | ||
| "Hong Kong Population and Housing Census 1971" conducted | ||
| First set of Hong Kong Population Projections compiled by C&SD released | ||
| Association of Government Statisticians formed | ||
|
1972 |
Statistics Advisory Board formed | |
| First outposted statistical unit established in the Education Department | ||
| Hong Kong labour force projections first released via a statistical feature article in the Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics | ||
 Mr D S Whitelegge |
1973 |
Mr D S Whitelegge appointed as Commissioner |
| First annual report on Estimates of Gross Domestic Product published | ||
|
1974 |
First Annual Survey of Industrial Production conducted | |
| New series of Consumer Price Index (CPI) (including CPI(A), CPI(B), and Hang Seng CPI) established to replace the Modified and General CPIs | ||
| First programmable electronic statistical calculator installed | ||
| Headquarters moved to Kai Tak Commercial Building at Des Voeux Road Central | ||
|
1975 |
Series of Labour Force Surveys first launched | |
| Key-to-disc equipment installed to replace punching machines for input of data | ||
| Agreed on a new working arrangement with the Government's Data Processing Division for setting up a special team in the Department to deal with small to medium scale computer projects | ||
|
1976 |
"1976 By-census" conducted | |
|
1977 |
Series of Quarterly Business Survey launched to collect information on business performance and expectations from establishments | |
| Course on "Hong Kong Statistics for Business" first organised in collaboration with the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong | ||
 Dr. C C Greenfield |
1978 |
Dr. C C Greenfield appointed as Commissioner |
| Census and Statistics Ordinance came into effect | ||
| First Annual Survey of Wholesale, Retail and Import/Export Trades, Restaurants and Hotels conducted | ||
| First issue of Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics published | ||
| An interactive terminal system and a remote print system linked to the Government central mainframe computer installed | ||
|
1979 |
First Crime Victimization Survey conducted | |
| C&SD Field Officers and Statistics Supervisors Amalgamated Association formed | ||
|
1980 |
First Annual Survey of Building, Construction and Real Estate Sectors conducted | |
| Central Register of Establishments put in place to facilitate sample selection in economic surveys | ||
| New series of Quarterly Survey of Employment, Vacancies and Payroll launched to replace the former employment surveys | ||
|
1981 |
"1981 Census" conducted | |
| First Annual Survey of Storage, Communications, Financing, Insurance and Business Services conducted | ||
| General Household Survey launched to replace the series of Labour Force Surveys | ||
| New series of Monthly Survey of Retail Sales launched | ||
|
1982 |
Departmental Consultative Committee formed | |
| Quarterly Survey of Industrial Production launched and Quarterly Index of Industrial Production series started | ||
| First Annual Survey of Transport and Related Services conducted | ||
|
1983 |
Quarterly Survey of Construction Output launched | |
| New series of Quarterly Survey of Restaurant Receipts and Purchases launched | ||
| Participated for the first time in the International Comparison Program of the United Nations | ||
|
1984 |
First set of complete annual current price Gross Domestic Product by economic activity released | |
|
1985 |
Schedule for issuing regular releases of statistical data in the ensuing year distributed to the mass media for the first time | |
| Computerised Frame of Living Quarters put in place to facilitate sample selection in household surveys | ||
 Dr. R Butler |
1986 |
Dr. R Butler appointed as Commissioner |
| "1986 By-census" conducted | ||
| First microcomputer system installed | ||
| "Statistical Project Competition for Secondary School Students" first organised by the Hong Kong Statistical Society, with C&SD being one of the sponsors since then | ||
|
1987 |
Headquarters moved to Wanchai Tower 1, Harbour Road, Wan Chai | |
| First stage implementation of the Harmonized System for coding commodities in trade declarations | ||
| Dr. R Butler passed away while on duty visit in Thailand | ||
 Mr Benjamin Mok Ni-hung |
1988 |
Mr Benjamin Mok Ni-hung appointed as Commissioner, the first local Chinese taking up the position |
| Hong Kong Trade Statistics Report in Computer Output Microfiche available for sale for the first time | ||
| First Survey on Trade related to Outward Processing in China conducted | ||
| Minicomputer VAX 8250 installed | ||
| Joint venture with a private company to produce and market a CD-ROM containing the data from the 1981 Population Census and 1986 Population By-census | ||
| The new Central Register of Establishments launched | ||
| Collaborated with the Cable & Wireless (HK) Ltd. to disseminate social and economic statistics through the DIALCOM public electronic mail service network | ||
|
1989 |
Diskette Submission Scheme for trade declarations implemented | |
|
1990 |
Major upgrading of mini-computer systems | |
| Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) introduced as a means of data collection to help enhance efficiency in conducting surveys | ||
| Departmental local area network of computers set up | ||
| The teaching kit Living with Statistics first produced to provide secondary schools teachers with reference materials on statistical methods and official statistics | ||
|
1991 |
"1991 Population Census" conducted | |
| Optical Character Recognition (OCR) machines installed for capturing data collected from surveys | ||
| Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC) adopted | ||
| Census and Statistics Ordinance amended to enhance the protection of confidentiality of data supplied by individual persons and establishments in surveys | ||
| First set of quarterly Gross Domestic Product by expenditure component released | ||
 Mr Frederick Ho Wing-huen |
1992 |
Mr Frederick Ho Wing-huen appointed as Commissioner |
| Harmonized System for coding commodities in import/export declarations fully implemented | ||
|
1993 |
Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) method adopted to facilitate data collection for the General Household Survey | |
| Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) method adopted to facilitate data collection for the Labour Earnings Survey | ||
| First Quarterly Survey of Service Industries conducted | ||
| First issue of Performance Pledge published | ||
| Statistical talks first organised for secondary schools students to promote statistical literacy | ||
|
1994 |
Computer-aided coding system implemented for data processing of the 1994/95 Household Expenditure Survey | |
| First Annual Survey of External Investments in Non-manufacturing Undertakings conducted | ||
| First Annual Survey of External Factor Income Flows conducted | ||
| Customer Liaison Group on Trade Matters formed | ||
| First Customer Opinion Survey conducted | ||
| Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) implemented for answering enquiries on matters related to lodgement of import/export declarations and cargo manifests | ||
| Commissioner represented Hong Kong to serve as the Chairman of the Committee on Statistics of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific from 1994 to 1998 | ||
|
1995 |
First set of annual Gross National Product for Hong Kong released | |
| Code on Access to Information started to be adopted in statistical matters | ||
|
1996 |
"1996 Population By-census" conducted | |
| Department's website launched on the Internet | ||
| Departmental logo launched | ||
| First Survey on Insurance and Freight Costs for Import Trade conducted | ||
| Planning work for the compilation of a complete Balance of Payments account commenced | ||
|
1997 |
Series of Composite Employment Estimate first released | |
| Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) service for lodgement of import/export declarations launched | ||
| Joint venture with a local company to release a CD-ROM containing Hong Kong's external trade statistics | ||
| Series on Quarterly Producer Price Indices for Manufacturing Industries first released | ||
| International Monetary Fund accepted Hong Kong's subscription to its Special Data Dissemination Standard | ||
| The Government of the People's Republic of China resumed its exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) formed under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle, with C&SD maintaining its separate statistical systems | ||
|
1998 |
First issue of Statistical Digest of the Services Sector published | |
|
1999 |
Series of Thematic Household Surveys launched | |
| Survey of External Claims, Liabilities and Income launched, to replace the Annual Survey of External Factor Income Flows | ||
| Meet-the-clients sessions and courtesy visits to some prominent establishments and trade associations first organised, with a view to gaining and maintaining co-operation of raw data suppliers | ||
| First set of complete Balance of Payments account with broad components for Hong Kong released | ||
| Quarterly Gross National Product for Hong Kong first released | ||
| Statistical talks first organised for media practitioners to promote statistical literacy | ||
|
2000 |
Survey on Information Technology Usage and Penetration in the Business Sector and Thematic Household Survey on Information Technology Usage and Penetration first launched | |
| First set of complete Balance of Payments account with detailed components for both the Current Account as well as the Capital and Financial Account for Hong Kong released | ||
| Resident population approach adopted for compiling population figures in order to better reflect the mobility patterns of the population | ||
| "Vision, Mission and Values" statement promulgated | ||
| Electronic version of questionnaires made available as an option for respondents for all mandatory surveys | ||
| Signed the co-operation programme in respect of technical exchanges on trade statistics with the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China | ||
|
2001 |
"2001 Population Census" conducted, introducing the application of Digital Mapping System and Optical Mark Recognition technologies | |
| Online "Statistical Bookstore, Hong Kong" launched | ||
|
2002 |
First Annual Survey of Innovation Activities in the Business Sector conducted | |
| First set of detailed statistics on offshore trade and trade in services released | ||
| International Investment Position and External Debt statistics for Hong Kong first released | ||
| Computerised Interactive Data Retrieval System came into operation at the Service Centre on Trade Statistics | ||
| Hosted the "Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop" of the International Monetary Fund | ||
| Hosted the "Asia Pacific Technical Meeting on Information Technology and Telecommunications Statistics" | ||
|
2003 |
Population census data first disseminated at building group level on the Internet | |
| Statistics on the Four Key Industries (i.e. financial services, trading and logistics, tourism together with producer and professional services) first released | ||
| Customer Window Scheme launched to facilitate the provision of raw data by major companies participating in multi-surveys of the Department | ||
| Signed the "Agreement on Co-operation and Arrangement" with the National Bureau of Statistics of China | ||
|
2004 |
Commissioner represented Hong Kong to serve as Chairman/member of the Regional Advisory Board of the International Comparison Program co-organised by the Asian Development Bank | |
 Mr Fung Hing-wang |
2005 |
Mr Fung Hing-wang appointed as Commissioner |
| Revamped website of the Department launched, providing enriched information contents, enhanced navigation and search functions as well as value-added services | ||
|
2006 |
First set of inward foreign affiliates trade in services statistics for Hong Kong released | |
| Electronic cargo manifest service fully launched (except for road mode) | ||
| "2006 Population By-census" conducted, introducing two electronic services viz. Appointment Request Service and Electronic Questionnaire | ||
| Free download service launched to enable statistical data users to acquire download versions of statistical publications and statistical tables of the Department free of charge via the Internet | ||
|
2007 |
First set of asset management statistics released | |
| First set of statistics on sectoral concentration released | ||
| A comprehensive study on income distribution in Hong Kong first conducted | ||
| Hosted the "Management Seminar for the Heads of National Statistical Offices in Asia and the Pacific" of the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific | ||
| Elected as the host of the "59th World Statistics Congress" of the International Statistical Institute to be held in Hong Kong in 2013 | ||
|
2008 |
The Interactive Data Dissemination System on the C&SD website launched, enabling users to get access to a wide range of population statistics and to construct customised statistical tables/charts | |
| Hosted the "Meeting of the Task Force on the Coordinated Direct Investment Survey" of the International Monetary Fund | ||
| Hosted the "Course on Labour Force and Manpower Projections" of the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific | ||
| Commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Mr XIE Fu-zhan, visited the Department | ||
|
2009 |
First Annual Earnings and Hours Survey conducted | |
| Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC) Version 2.0 adopted to replace the HSIC Version 1.1 | ||
| Hosted the "Population Census Conference" of the Association of National Census and Statistics Directors of America, Asia and the Pacific | ||
|
2010 |
First set of quarterly International Investment Position statistics for Hong Kong released | |
| First Annual Survey of Economic Activities conducted, to replace separate annual economic surveys on different major industry sectors | ||
| First Quarterly Survey of Merchanting and Other Trading Activities conducted | ||
| Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) for the Import/Export Declaration and Cargo Manifest Enquiry Hotline upgraded to a digital platform | ||
| A series of activities organised to join the United Nations and the world in celebrating the first World Statistics Day (WSD) on 20 October 2010, with a view to raising awareness of the many contributions of official statistics premised on the core values of "service, integrity and professionalism" | ||
| Hosted the "Sub-regional Course on Measuring and Improving Survey Quality" of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific | ||
 Mrs Lily Ou-yang |
2011 |
Mrs Lily Ou-yang appointed as Commissioner |
| Knowledge Management Support System (KMSS) launched to support knowledge sharing and collaboration among colleagues | ||
| Statistics on the Six Industries (i.e. cultural and creative industries, medical services, education services, innovation and technology, testing and certification services, and environmental industries) first released | ||
| "2011 Population Census" conducted, adopting a multi-modal data collection approach to tie in with the changing technological environment and service needs | ||
| A C&SD’s delegation participated in the 58th World Statistics Congress (WSC) of the International Statistical Institute in Dublin, Ireland, and picked up the torch from Dublin at the handover ceremony held on 26 August 2011 to succeed as the host for the 59th WSC in 2013 | ||
|
2012 |
A new mobile version of the Department’s website being developed to facilitate navigation of the latest statistical information on handheld devices | |
| Actively rolling out a series of plans in preparation for the hosting of the 59th World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute in 2013 | ||
| Department's website being enhanced, introducing newly designed homepage and simplified structure of statistical contents to facilitate more efficient browsing of statistical information | ||
| First online version of the teaching kit Living with Statistics launched to provide secondary school teachers and students a convenient access of reference materials on statistical methods and official statistics |