Explanatory
Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
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
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 mainly
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’s 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’s 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 t
natural produce of Hong Kong or 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 China for
Outward Processing refer to raw materials or
semi-manufactures 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.
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
investor 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 the
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 those for associate degrees, higher diplomsa,
professional diplomas 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.