Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators

Mid-year Population is compiled using the “resident population” approach. 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 Hong Kong population.

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 being classified as employed population or 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 month before enumeration. 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 a country or territory 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 the following two broad accounts: (a) the current account; and (b) the capital and financial account.

Current Account largely measures the flows of real resources including exports and imports of goods and services, income receivable and payable abroad, and current transfers from and to abroad. Current account transactions reflect the provision and acquisition of real resources by an economy to and from other economies.

Goods comprise all movable goods that change ownership from residents to non-residents (exports) or 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) or by non-residents to residents (imports). Service transactions are classified by type of services, namely transportation, travel, insurance services, financial services and other services. The value of financial intermediation services is indirectly measured using the “reference rate” method.

Income consists of earnings by residents from non-residents (income receivable) or by non-residents from residents (income payable) for the provision of factors of production. The concepts and definitions of income under the current account of the BoP account are the same as those of the external factor income flow under GNP.

Current Transfers are transactions in which residents of an economy provide/receive real or 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 the 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 the 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 which allows an investor of an economy to have a lasting interest and a significant degree of influence or an effective voice in 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 securities 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. This includes non-marketable loans, currency and deposits, trade credits, financial leases and so on.

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 of the stock of an econmmy’s external financial assets and liabilities at a particular time point. In IIP, external financial assets pertain to possessions, in the form of prescribed investment instruments having commercial or exchange value, that are owned by residents with claims on non-residents, and other financial assets where no debtor is involved (e.g. monetary gold). External financial liabilities refer to financial claims which are owed by residents with obligations to non-residents. Fully consistent with the BOP financial account, IIP is categorised 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 BOP account.

Net IIP is the difference between total external financial assets and total external financial liabilities.

Index of Industrial Production measures the changes in local industrial 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 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 Hong Kong products re-imported. Their values are recorded on cost, insurance and freight (c.i.f.) basis.

Domestic exports are the natural produce of Hong Kong or products of a manufacturing process in Hong Kong which has changed permanently the shape, nature, form or utility of the basic materials used in manufacture. Processes such as simple diluting, packing, bottling, drying, simple assembling, sorting, decorating, etc., do not confer Hong Kong origin. Their values are recorded on free-on-board (f.o.b.) basis.

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 f.o.b. 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 which allows an investor of an economy to have a lasting interest and a significant degree of influence or an effective voice in the management of an enterprise in another economy. For statistical purpose, an effective voice is taken as equivalent to a holding of 10% or more of the voting power in an enterprise. Direct investment comprises equity capital, reinvested earnings and other capital. Equity capital means equity in branches and shares in subsidiaries and associates. Reinvested earnings consist of the investors’ share of earnings not distributed by branches, subsidiaries or associates. Other capital mainly involves inter-company debt transactions. These include short-term and long-term borrowing and lending of funds between parent companies and their branches, subsidiaries and associates.

Inward Direct Investment refers to direct investment in a Hong Kong resident enterprise by a non-Hong Kong resident. Typical examples of inward direct investment are multinational corporations’ branches and subsidiaries operating in Hong Kong.

Position of Direct Investment refers to the value of investment abroad or investment received from abroad of Hong Kong residents at a specified date.

Flow of Direct Investment refers to the additions/withdrawals of investment abroad or investment received from abroad of Hong Kong residents during a period.

Outward Direct Investment refers to direct investment by a Hong Kong resident in a non-resident enterprise.

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 (HKD) is an index which measures movements in the weighted average of the exchange rate of the HKD against the currencies of major trading partners of Hong Kong. It serves as an indicator for measuring the overall strength of the HKD relative to selected currencies. A new EERI series has been released as from 3 January 2012 to replace the old EERI series. This new series uses January 2010 as the base and includes 15 currencies (the Indian Rupee is added to the new series).

Exchange Rates Between the Hong Kong Dollar and Other Currencies refer to the closing middle market telegraphic transfer rates or notes rates.

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 Hong Kong dollar time deposits.

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 generally purchased by households. The year-on-year rate of change in the CPI is widely used as an indicator of the inflation affecting consumers. Different 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 sub-degree, associate degree, degree and post-graduate courses offered by the Open University of Hong Kong) and includes examinations or specific academic assessment procedures.

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, the Social Security Allowance Scheme, the Criminal and Law Enforcement Injuries Compensation Scheme, the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme and Emergency Relief.

The 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.

The Social Security Allowance Scheme provides a monthly allowance to Hong Kong residents who are severely disabled or who are 65 years of age or above to meet special needs arising from disability or old age. The Scheme includes Normal Disability Allowance, Higher Disability Allowance, Normal Old Age Allowance and Higher Old Age Allowance. Except for Normal Old Age Allowance, the allowances paid under the Scheme are non-means-tested.

The Criminal and Law Enforcement Injuries Compensation Scheme aims to provide ex-gratia payments 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. The Scheme is non-means-tested.

The Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme aims to provide speedy financial assistance to road traffic accident victims (or to their surviving dependants in cases of death) on a non-means tested basis, regardless of 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 included.

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.