Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
Mid-year population is compiled using the “resident
population” approach. Population
figures before 1996 were compiled using the “extended de facto” approach. Since August 2000, the “resident
population” approach has been adopted in place of the “extended de facto
approach for compiling Hong Kong population figures, with revised population
figures backdated to 1996. The
population estimate compiled under the “resident population” approach is
referred to as the Hong Kong Resident Population, which comprises “Usual
Residents” and “Mobile Residents”. “Usual
Residents” refer to two categories of people : (a)
Hong Kong Permanent Residents who have stayed in Hong Kong for at least 3
months during the 6 months before or for at least 3 months during the 6 months
after the reference time-point, regardless of whether they are in Hong Kong at
the reference time-point; and (b) Hong Kong Non-permanent Residents who are in
Hong Kong at the reference time-point.
As for “Mobile Residents”, they are Hong Kong Permanent Residents who
have stayed in Hong Kong for at least 1 month but less than 3 months during the
6 months before or for at least 1 month but less than 3 months during the 6
months after the reference time-point, regardless of whether they are in Hong
Kong at the reference time-point.
Under the new approach, visitors are not part of the
Crude birth rate refers to the number of live
births in a given year per 1000 mid-year population of that year.
Crude death rate refers to the number of
deaths in a given year per 1000 mid-year population of that year.
Infant mortality rate refers to the number of
deaths of age under one in a given year per 1000 live births in that year.
Total fertility rate refers to the average number of children
that would be born alive to 1000 women during their lifetime if they were to
pass through their childbearing ages 15-49 experiencing the age specific
fertility rates prevailing in a given year.
Expectation of life at birth refers to the number of years
of life that a person born in a given year is expected to live if he/she was
subject to the prevalent mortality conditions as reflected by the set of
age-sex specific mortality rates for that year.
Labour force refers to the land-based
non-institutional population aged 15 and over who satisfy the criteria for
inclusion in the employed population or the unemployed population.
Labour force participation rate refers to the proportion of labour force in the land-based non-institutional population
aged 15 and over.
Employed persons refer to those persons aged
15 and over who have been at work for pay or profit during the 7 days before
enumeration or have had formal job attachment. Unpaid family workers and persons who
were on leave/holiday during the 7 days before enumeration are included.
Unemployed persons
refer to those persons aged
15 and over who (a) have not had a job and have not performed any work for pay
or profit during the 7 days before enumeration; (b) have been available for
work during the 7 days before enumeration; and (c) have sought work during the
30 days before enumeration. If a
person aged 15 or over fulfils the conditions (a) and (b) above but has not
sought work during the 30 days before enumeration because he/she believed that
work was not available, he/she is still classified as unemployed, being
regarded as a so-called “discouraged worker”. Unemployed population also includes
persons without a job who have sought work but have not been available for work
because of temporary sickness; and persons without a job who have been
available for work but have not sought work because they have made arrangements
to take up a new job or to start business on a subsequent date; or were expecting
to return to their original jobs.
Unemployment rate refers to the proportion of
unemployed persons in the labour force.
Monthly employment earnings refer to earnings from all
jobs during the last month. For
employees, they include wage and salary, bonus, commission, tips, housing
allowance, overtime allowance, attendance allowance and other cash
allowances. However, back pays are
excluded. For employers and self-employed,
they refer to amounts drawn from the self-owned enterprise for personal and
household use. If information on
the amounts drawn for personal and household use is not available, data on net
earnings from business would be collected instead.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measure of the total
value of production of all resident producing units of a country or territory
in a specified period, before deducting allowance for consumption of fixed
capital.
Per capita GDP is obtained by dividing
total GDP in a year by the population of that country or territory in the same
year.
Gross National Product (GNP) is a measure of the total
income earned by residents of an economy from engaging in various economic
activities, irrespective of whether the economic activities are carried out
within the economic territory or outside.
In other words, in compiling GNP, earnings of residents from various
economic activities within or outside the economic territory are included,
whereas earnings of non-residents from economic activities within the economic
territory are excluded. GNP is
computed by the following formula:
GNP = GDP
+ Factor income earned by residents from
outside the economic territory
- Factor income earned by
non-residents from within the economic territory
where factor income is
mainly classified into investment income and compensation of employees. Investment income includes direct
investment income, portfolio investment income and other investment income.
Per capita GNP is obtained by dividing
GNP in a year by the population of that country or territory in the same year.
Balance of Payments (BOP) account is a statistical
statement that systematically summarizes, for a specific time period, the
economic transactions of an economy with the rest of the world. A complete BOP account comprises two
broad accounts: (a) Current Account; and (b) Capital and Financial Account.
Current account largely measures flow of real
resources, including exports and imports of good and services, income
receivable and payable abroad, and current transfers from and to abroad.
Goods comprise all movable goods that change
ownership from residents to non-residents (exports) and from non-residents to
residents (imports). Goods cover
general merchandise, goods for processing, goods procured in ports by carriers,
repairs on goods, and non-monetary gold.
Services include services rendered by residents to
non-residents (exports) and by non-residents to residents (imports). Service transactions are classified by
type of services, namely transportation, travel, insurance services, financial
services and other services.
Income consists of earnings by residents from
non-residents (income receivable) and by non-residents from residents (income
payable) for the provision of factors of production. Income is mainly classified into
compensation of employees and investment income which includes direct
investment income, portfolio investment income and other investment income.
Current transfers are those transactions in
which residents of an economy provide/receive real and financial resources that
are likely to be consumed immediately or shortly, to/from non-residents without
the receipt/provision of equivalent economic values in return.
Capital account
measures external transactions in capital transfers, and in
acquisition or disposal of non-produced, non-financial assets.
Financial account records transactions in
financial assets and liabilities between residents and non-residents. It shows how an economy’s external
transactions are financed.
Transactions in the financial account are classified into direct
investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives, other investment and
reserve assets.
Capital transfers
are transfers of ownership
of a fixed asset or the forgiveness of a liability without receiving any
economic value in return.
Direct investment
refers to external investment
in which an investor of an economy acquires a lasting interest and an effective
control over the management of an enterprise located in another economy.
Portfolio investment refers to investment
in non-resident equity securities and debt securities (e.g. bonds and notes,
money market instruments). Compared
with direct investors, portfolio investors in equity and debt securities of
non-resident enterprises have no lasting interest or influence in the
management of the companies they invest.
Financial derivatives are financial instruments
that are linked to a specific financial instrument or indicator or commodity,
and through which specific financial risks can be traded in financial markets
(including on exchanges and over-the-counter) in their own right.
Other investment
refers to other financial
claims on and liabilities to non-residents that are not classified as direct
investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives or reserve assets. It includes non-marketable loans,
currency and deposits, trade credits and financial leases.
Reserve assets consist of foreign currency
assets that are readily available to and controlled by the monetary authority
of an economy (in the case of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority) for
directly financing payment imbalances and for indirectly regulating the
magnitude of such imbalances through intervention in foreign exchange markets
to affect the currency exchange rate of that economy.
International Investment Position
(IIP) is a balance sheet showing an
economy抯
stock of external financial assets and liabilities at a particular time
point. External financial assets
consist of claims on non-residents and other financial assets where no debtor
is involved (e.g. monetary gold).
On the other hand, an economy’s external financial liabilities refer to
the financial claims of non-residents on residents of the economy. Fully consistent with the Balance of
Payments financial account, IIP is categorized by type of investment. Assets and liabilities are divided into
direct investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives and other
investment. The asset side of IIP
also includes the reserve assets.
For detailed explanation on investment components, please refer to the
explanatory notes on the components of the financial account of the Balance of
Payments account.
Net IIP is the difference between
total external financial assets and total external financial liabilities.
Index of industrial production reflects changes in local
manufacturing output in real terms, i.e. changes in the volume of local
production after discounting the effect of price changes.
Usable floor area means the aggregate of the areas of the
floor or floors in a storey or a building excluding any staircases, public
circulation space, lift landings, lavatories, water-closets, kitchens and any
space occupied by machinery for any lift, air-conditioning system or similar
service provided for the building.
Buildings with consents to
commence work refer to buildings with consents to
commence building works issued by the Buildings Department. Such “Consents” are issued to private
development projects (including Hong Kong Housing Society’s
projects) and Hong Kong Housing Authority抯 development projects under the
Private Sector Participation Scheme.
First submission
refers to plans for a
building project which are first submitted to the Building Authority for
approval.
Major revision refers to building plans
which have been so extensively revised that they must be fundamentally
reassessed.
Owner-occupier refers to a household which
owns the quarters it occupies.
Sole tenant refers to a household which
rents the whole quarters it occupies from someone who lives outside the quarters
without sharing it with other household(s) or subletting.
Co-tenant refers to two or more
households each of which rents part of the quarters from someone who lives
outside the quarters.
Main tenant refers to a household which
rents the whole quarters it occupies from someone who lives outside the
quarters and sublets part of it to other household(s).
Sub-tenant refers to a household which
rents part of the quarters from someone who lives in the same quarters.
Rent free refers to a household which occupies
an accommodation free, with or without the owner抯 permission. This does not include
owner-occupiers or households occupying accommodation provided by employers.
Accommodation provided by employer refers to a household which
occupies an accommodation provided by the employer of one of the household members. This also includes households occupying
quarters leased from employers at a nominal rent. If a household member uses housing
allowance given by his/her employer for renting accommodation, the tenure is
not regarded as accommodation provided by employer.
Imports are goods which have been
produced or manufactured in places outside the jurisdiction of Hong Kong and
brought into Hong Kong for domestic use or for subsequent re-export as well as
Domestic exports
are the natural produce of
Hong Kong or the products of a manufacturing process in
Re-exports are products which have previously
been imported into Hong Kong and which are re-exported without having undergone
in Hong Kong a manufacturing process which has changed permanently the shape,
nature, form or utility of the product.
Their values are recorded on a f.o.b. (free-on-board) basis.
Domestic exports to the mainland
of
Imports from the mainland of China
related to outward processing refer to
processed goods imported to Hong Kong from the mainland of China, of which all
or part of the raw materials or semi-manufactures have been under contractual
arrangement exported from or through Hong Kong to the mainland of China for
processing.
Re-exports of the mainland of
China origin to other places involving outward processing in the mainland of China refer to processed goods
re-exported through Hong Kong, of which all or part of the raw materials or
semi-manufactures have been exported from or through Hong Kong to the mainland of
China for processing with a contractual arrangement for subsequent
re-importation of the processed goods into Hong Kong.
Direct investment refers to external investment
in which an investor of an economy acquires a lasting interest and an effective
control over the management of an enterprise located in another economy. For statistical purpose, an effective
control is taken as equivalent to a holding of 10% or more of the equity in an
enterprise. Direct investment
comprises equity capital, reinvested earnings and other capital. Equity capital means equity in branches,
stock and shares in subsidiaries and associates. Reinvested earnings consist of the investors share of earnings of their subsidiaries or
associates not distributed as dividends.
Other capital includes inter-company debt transactions between parent
companies and their subsidiaries, associates and branches.
Inward direct investment refers to direct investment
in a
Position of direct investment refers to the value of
investment abroad or investment received from abroad of
Flow of direct investment refers to the
additions/withdrawals of investment abroad or investment received from abroad
of
Outward direct investment refers to direct investment
by a
Loan Fund
finances loans and advances for such schemes as housing loans and
education loans. The main sources
of income are appropriations from the General Revenue Account, loan repayments
and interest on loans.
Effective Exchange Rate Index (EERI) for the Hong Kong dollar
is an index which measure movements in the weighted average of the exchange
rate of the Hong Kong dollar against currencies of major trading partners of
Exchange rates between
Authorized institutions include licensed banks,
restricted licence banks and deposit-taking companies. Licensed banks can accept deposits of
any size and any term of maturity.
With the final phase of interest rate deregulation came into effect on 3
July 2001, there is no restriction on interest rate payable. As for restricted licence
banks, they can accept time deposits in amounts of not less than HK$500,000
with any term of maturity.
Deposit-taking companies can however accept time deposits in amounts of
not less than HK$100,000 with a term of maturity of at least three months. Both restricted licence
banks and deposit-taking companies have no restriction on interest rate
payable.
Foreign currency swap deposits refer to deposits involving
customers buying foreign currencies in the spot market and placing them as
deposits with authorized institutions, while at the same time entering into a
contract to sell such foreign currencies (principal plus interest) forward in
line with the maturity of such deposits.
For most analytical purpose, they should be regarded as
Money Supply M1 refers to the sum of legal
tender notes and coins held by the public plus customers demand deposits placed
with licensed banks.
Money Supply M2 refers to the sum of M1 plus customers savings
and time deposits with licensed banks, plus negotiable certificates of deposits
issued by licensed banks held by non-authorized institutions.
Money Supply M3 refers to the sum of M2 plus customer deposits
with restricted licence banks (RLBs)
and deposit-taking companies (DTCs) plus negotiable
certificates of deposits issued by RLBs and DTCs held by non-authorized institutions.
Hang Seng
Index is a market
capitalization-weighted index (shares outstanding multiplied by stock
price). The 33 constituent stocks
of the Hang Seng Index are grouped under four sub-indices,
namely Commerce and Industry, Finance, Properties and Utilities. These stocks account for about 60
percent of the total market capitalization of all stocks listed on the Stock
Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the changes over time
in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The year-on-year rate of change in the
CPI is widely used as an indicator of inflation affecting consumers. Four CPI series are compiled to
reflect the impact of consumer price changes on households in different
expenditure ranges. The CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) are compiled based on the
expenditure patterns of households in the relatively low, medium and relatively
high expenditure ranges respectively.
A Composite CPI is compiled based on the overall expenditure pattern of
all the above households taken together to reflect the impact of consumer price
changes on the household sector as a whole. The expenditure weight of each item is
the share of the item in the total expenditure of households. Derived from the results of the
Household Expenditure Survey, the set of expenditure weights is updated once
every five years to ensure that up-to-date expenditure patterns of households
in different expenditure ranges are used in the compilation of the respective
CPIs.
Educational attainment refers to the highest level
of education ever attained by a person in school or other educational
institution, regardless of whether he/she had completed the course. Only formal courses are counted as
educational attainment. A formal
course shall be one that lasts for at least one academic year, requires
specific academic qualifications for entrance (except most sub-degree and
degree courses offered by the Open University of Hong Kong) and includes
examinations or specific academic assessment procedures.
Kindergartens provide services for children from 3 to 6
years old. Most of the
kindergartens operate on a half-day basis offering upper, lower kindergarten
classes and nursery classes. Some
kindergartens operate full-day kindergarten classes. All kindergartens have to register with
the Education and Manpower Bureau.
Non-degree courses refer to sub-degree courses
including associate degree, higher diploma, professional diploma and other
post-secondary programmes of equivalent standards in
tertiary educational institutions within or outside
Degree courses refer to all first degree,
taught postgraduate and research postgraduate courses in tertiary educational
institutions within or outside
Social Security Schemes aim to provide for the
basic and special needs of the members of the community who are in need of
financial or material assistance.
The non-contributory social security system comprises the Comprehensive
Social Security Assistance Scheme, Social Security Allowance Scheme, Criminal
and Law Enforcement Injuries Compensation Scheme, Traffic Accident Victims
Assistance Scheme and Emergency Relief.
Comprehensive Social Security
Assistance Scheme provides a safety net for those
who cannot support themselves financially.
It is designed to bring their income up to a prescribed level to meet
their basic needs. An applicant
must satisfy the residence requirements and pass both the income and assets
tests.
Social Security Allowance Scheme provides a monthly allowance to
Criminal and Law Enforcement
Injuries Compensation Scheme aims to provide financial
awards to persons (or to their dependants in cases of death) who are injured as
a result of a crime of violence, or by a law enforcement officer using a weapon
in the execution of his duty. It is
non-contributory and non-means tested.
Traffic Accident Victims
Assistance Scheme aims to provide speedy
financial assistance to road traffic accident victims (or to their dependants
in cases of death). It is non-means
tested, and does not take into account the element of fault leading to the occurrence
of the accident. Payments are made
for personal injuries, while loss of or damage to property is not covered.
Emergency relief is provided for victims
of natural and other disasters such as fire, typhoon, flood, rainstorm,
landslide, house collapse, and also for evacuees of buildings and premises
considered to be dangerous under Closure Orders.