Demographics of Hong Kong

People from Hong Kong generally refer to themselves, in Cantonese, as Hèung Góng Yàhn (Chinese: 香港人; Cantonese Yale: Hèung Góng Yàhn; lit. 'Hong Kong people'); however, the term is not restricted to those of Chinese descent, owing to Hong Kong's roughly 160-year colonial history that saw the civil servants and traders of British, Indian, Russian and other ethnic groups stationed in Hong Kong.

In English, the term 'Hongkongers' (or sometimes 'Hong Kongers') is also used to refer to Hong Kongese people, while the term 'Hongkongese' is sometimes used as an adjective to describe people or things related to Hong Kong.^[6][7]

The following census data is available for Hong Kong between the years 1841–2011. In 2011, Hong Kong had a population of just over 7 million, with a density of approximately 6,300 people per square kilometer. This makes Hong Kong the fourth most densely populated region in the world, after Macau, Monaco, and Singapore.^[2]

Age groups

United Nations data

According to United Nations estimates from 1 July 2013, Hong Kong's population is distributed in the following age ranges, with the largest age group represented being 50–54 years:^[14]

More information Age group, Male ...

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	3,330,700	3,856,800	7,187,500	100
0–4	134,500	125,700	260,200	3.62
5–9	128,000	120,200	248,200	3.45
10–14	149,100	139,600	288,700	4.02
15–19	208,000	196,300	404,300	5.63
20–24	226,400	230,700	457,100	6.36
25–29	221,800	295,800	517,600	7.20
30–34	231,900	343,200	575,100	8.00
35–39	229,500	331,000	560,500	7.80
40–44	239,800	338,700	578,500	8.05
45–49	271,000	337,900	608,900	8.47
50–54	313,500	341,100	654,600	9.11
55–59	281,300	287,900	569,200	7.92
60–64	220,000	223,100	443,100	6.16
65–69	148,800	146,400	295,200	4.11
70–74	109,600	103,700	213,300	2.97
75–79	100,600	109,900	210,500	2.93
80–84	69,500	88,400	157,900	2.20
85+	47,400	97,200	144,600	2.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	411,600	385,500	797,100	11.09
15–64	2,443,200	2,925,700	5,368,900	74.70
65+	475,900	545,600	1,021,500	14.21

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Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):^[15]

More information Age group, Male ...

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	3 416 300	4 065 500	7 481 800	100
0–4	137 400	127 400	264 800	3.54
5–9	154 600	144 800	299 400	4.00
10–14	154 400	150 700	305 100	4.08
15–19	140 100	133 500	273 600	3.66
20–24	192 600	191 900	384 500	5.14
25–29	224 600	257 300	481 900	6.44
30–34	229 800	320 400	550 200	7.35
35–39	237 500	369 300	606 800	8.11
40–44	226 300	343 500	569 800	7.62
45–49	241 500	339 700	581 200	7.77
50–54	241 400	315 400	556 800	7.44
55–59	301 200	343 300	644 500	8.61
60–64	292 400	299 000	591 400	7.90
65–69	223 200	229 900	453 100	6.06
70–74	165 200	171 500	336 700	4.50
75–79	95 100	95 200	190 300	2.54
80–84	79 900	94 000	173 900	2.32
85+	79 100	138 700	217 800	2.91
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	446 400	422 900	869 300	11.62
15–64	2 327 400	2 913 300	5 240 700	70.05
65+	642 500	729 300	1 371 800	18.34

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Hong Kong government data

The Hong Kong government provides the following estimates for mid-2013:^[16]

More information age, percentage ...

age	percentage	males	females
0–14 years	11.0%	408,000	382,600
15–24 years	11.7%	424,500	417,900
25–34 years	15.2%	454,900	639,700
35–44 years	15.9%	471,500	671,800
45–54 years	17.7%	587,900	681,700
55–64 years	14.2%	503,700	512,600
65 and over	14.3%	479,500	547,700

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Median age: 45.0 (2013 est.)

View source data.

View source data.

At the end of the 20th century, Hong Kong had one of the lowest birth rates in the world. However, the number of births doubled in the decade between 2001 and 2011, largely due to an increase in the number of children born in Hong Kong to women with residence in mainland China. In 2001 there were 7,810 births to Mainland women (16%) out of a total of 48,219 births. By 2009 it increased to 37,253 births to Mainland women (45%) out of a total of 82,095 births.^[17]

Source: ^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Notable events in demography of Hong Kong:

• 1942-1945 – Second World War
• 1950-1965 – Mid-20th-century baby boom
• 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests

According to Hong Kong census data more than 90% of the population are Chinese. The largest minority are Filipino with over 200,000 in 2021, almost doubled since 2006. Other minorities include Indonesians, Indians, Nepalese and Whites.

Chinese

More information Ethnic groups (alone) ...

Ethnic groups in Hong Kong (2021)^[26][27]

Ethnic groups (alone)
Chinese			91.6%
Filipino			2.7%
Indonesian			1.9%
South Asians			1.4%
Other			3%

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Historically, the major Chinese groups in Hong Kong include the Cantonese (including Punti and Toishanese), Hakka, Hoklo,^[28] and Tanka (mostly Cantonese speakers).^[29] The Punti, and Tanka people in Hong Kong are largely descendants of the indigenous population, while the Hakka and Hoklo groups are composed of both indigenous groups and more recent migrants.

Most Teochew-speaking migrants immigrated to Hong Kong between the late 1940s and early 1970s, while migrants from Fujian (previously Southern Min speakers, and increasingly more Central Min and Northern Min speakers) have constituted a growing number of migrants since 1978.^[30] Many Yue-speaking people such as Taishanese and Cantonese also migrated after 1949.

According to the 2016 by-census, 92% of the Hong Kong population belongs to a Chinese ethnicity.^[4] The Hong Kong census does not currently categorise Han Chinese subgroups nor does it differentiate other Chinese ethnicities, although in the past the census would collect information on language and dialect use.^[31] However, the majority of Hongkongers of Chinese descent trace their ancestry to various parts of Southern China: the Guangzhou area, followed by Siyi (Toishanese people), Chaoshan (a region of Eastern Guangdong home to Teochew speakers), Fujian, and Shanghai.^[32] Some Cantonese people also originate from Hakka-speaking villages in the New Territories.^[33]

Due to its history as trading, business, and tourism hub, a large number of expatriates live in Hong Kong, representing 8% of the population.^[42] The following lists ethnic groups with significant presence in Hong Kong in alphabetical order by category:

• Africa
• East Asia
  • Japan
  • Korea
• Europe
  • Britain
  • France
  • Russia
• North America
  • United States
  • Canada
• Oceania
  • Australia
• South Asia
  • India
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
• Southeast Asia
  • The Philippines
  • Indonesia (mainly Javanese)
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam

As a former British colony, Hong Kong has 2 official languages: English, and Chinese, although the specific variety of Chinese is not specified. The majority of the population uses Cantonese as their usual spoken language. However, due to Hong Kong's role as an international trade and finance hub, there are also a wide variety of minority groups speaking dozens of languages present in the territory.

Over half of all people (56.1% as of 2010) are not religious.^[50] Religious people in Hong Kong follow a diverse range of religions, among which Taoist and Buddhist (specifically Chinese Buddhism) faiths are common for people of Chinese descent.

Confucian beliefs are popular in Hong Kong, but it is arguable whether Confucianism can be considered as a religion.^[51] Accordingly, Confucianism is excluded in some studies.^[50]

The Christian beliefs of Protestantism (with 1,040,000 members) and Catholicism (390,000 members) are also common, as well as non-organised Chinese folk religions, whose followers may state that they are not religious.

Traditional religions including Chinese Buddhism were discouraged under British rule, which officially represented Christianity.^[52] The handover of sovereignty from Britain to China has led to a resurgence of Buddhist and Chinese religions.^[52]

• Hong Kong drifter
• Hong Kong Kids phenomenon
• Hong Kongers
• Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom
• Indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories
• Right of abode in Hong Kong
• Emigration from Hong Kong