Statistical information Hong Kong 1998

Hong Kong in the World
top of pageBackground: Pursuant to the agreement signed by China and the UK on 19 December 1984, Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China on 1 July 1997. Under the terms of this agreement, China has promised that Hong Kong shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs.
top of pageLocation: Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
Geographic coordinates: 22 15 N, 114 10 E
Map reference:
Southeast AsiaAreaTotal: 1,092 km²
Land: 1,042 km²
Water: 50 km²
Comparative: six times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundariesTotal: 30 km
Border countries: (1) China 30 kmCoastline: 733 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea:3 nm
Climate: tropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall
Terrain: hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north
ElevationExtremes lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m
Natural resources: outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
Land useArable land: 6%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 1%
Forests and woodland: 22%
Other: 70% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 20 km² (1993 est.)
Major riversMajor watersheds area km²Total water withdrawalTotal renewable water resourcesNatural hazards: occasional typhoons
Geographytop of pagePopulationGrowth rate: 2.24% (1998 est.)
NationalityNoun: Chinese
Adjective: Chinese
Ethnic groups: Chinese 95%, other 5%
Languages: Chinese (Cantonese), English
Religions: eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Demographic profileAge structure0-14 years: 18% (male 637,808; female 591,900)
15-64 years: 71% (male 2,360,878; female 2,425,291)
65 years and over: 11% (male 312,033; female 379,055) (July 1998 est.)
Dependency ratiosMedian agePopulation growth rate: 2.24% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 12.85 births/1000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 5.87 deaths/1000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: 15.41 migrant(s)/1000 population (1998 est.)
Population distributionUrbanizationMajor urban areasEnvironmentCurrent issues: air and water pollution from rapid urbanization
Air pollutantsSex ratioAt birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Mothers mean age at first birthMaternal mortality ratioInfant mortality rate: 5.24 deaths/1000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birthTotal population: 78.81 years
Male: 76.07 years
Female: 81.74 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.36 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rateDrinking water sourceCurrent health expenditurePhysicians densityHospital bed densitySanitation facility accessHiv/AidsMajor infectious diseasesObesity adult prevalence rateAlcohol consumptionTobacco useChildren under the age of 5 years underweightEducation expendituresLiteracyDefinition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
Total population: 92.2%
Male: 96%
Female: 88.2% (1996 est.)
School life expectancy primary to tertiary educationYouth unemploymenttop of pageCountry nameConventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Conventional short form: Hong Kong
Local long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu
Local short form: Xianggang
Abbreviation: HK
Government type: NA
Capital: Victoria
Administrative divisions: none (special administrative region of China)
Dependent areasIndependence: none (special administrative region of China)
National holiday: National Day, 1-2 October
Note: 1 July 1997 is celebrated as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day
Constitution: Basic Law approved in March 1990 by China's National People's Congress is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"
Legal system: based on English common law
International law organization participationCitizenshipSuffrage: direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 100,000 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member Election Commission drawn from broad regional groupings and other central government bodies
Executive branchChief of state: President of China JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993): ead of
Government: Chief Executive TUNG Chee-hwa (since 1 July 1997)
Cabinet: Executive Council consists of three ex-officio members and 10 appointed members; ex-officio members are:Chief Secretary Anson CHAN (since 29 November 1993), Financial Secretary Donald TSANG (since NA 1995), and Secretary of Justice Elsie LEUNG (since NA 1997)
Elections: NA
Legislative branch: a provisional legislature replaced the unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; 30 indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 20 elected by popular vote, and 10 elected by election committee; members served four-year terms) on 1 July 1997
Elections: indirect and direct elections for the Legislative Council were last held on 17 September 1995; elections for the first Special Administrative Region Legislative Council are scheduled to be held in May 1998
Election results: the following are results of the 1995 election of the Legislative Council - percent of vote by party_NA; seats by party_Democratic Party 21, Liberal Party 10, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong 6, other parties and independents 23
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leadersInternational organization participation: APEC, AsDB, BIS (pending member), CCC, ESCAP (associate), ICFTU, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, ISO (correspondent), WCL, WMO, WTrO
Diplomatic representationIn the us: none (special administrative region of China)
From the us chief of mission: Consul General Richard A. BOUCHER
From the us consulates general: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong
From the us mailing address: PSC 464, Box 30, FPO AP 96,522-0002
From the us telephone: [852] 2,523-9,011
From the us fax: [852] 2,845-1598
Flag description
: red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center
National symbolsNational anthemNational heritagetop of pageEconomy overview: Hong Kong has a bustling free market economy highly dependent on international trade. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Indeed, imports and exports, including reexports, each exceed GDP in dollar value. Real GDP growth averaged a remarkable 8% in 1987-88, slowed to 3.0% in 1989-90, and picked up to 4.2% in 1991, 5.0% in 1992, 5.2% in 1993, 5.5% in 1994, 4.8% in 1995, 4.7% in 1996, and an estimated 5.5% in 1997. A shortage of labor continues to put upward pressure on prices and the cost of living. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997 it had extensive trade and investment ties with China.
Real gdp purchasing power parityReal gdp growth rate: 5.5% (1997 est.)
Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $26,800 (1997 est.)
Gross national savingGdp composition by sector of origin
Gdp composition by end useGdp composition by sector of originAgriculture: 0.1%
Industry: 16.1%
Services: 83.8% (1996 est.)
Agriculture products: fresh vegetables; poultry
Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks
Industrial production growth rate: -3.2% (1997 est.)
Labor forceTotal: 3.183 million (1997)
By occupation wholesaleandretailtrade restaurants and hotels: 32.4%
By occupation socialservices: 9.9%
By occupation manufacturing: 9.9%
By occupation financing insurance andrealestate: 13.0%
By occupation transport and communications: 5.7%
By occupation construction: 2.6%
By occupation other: 26.5% (June1997)
Unemployment rate: 3.1% (1996 est.)
Youth unemploymentPopulation below poverty lineGini indexHousehold income or consumption by percentage shareDistribution of family income gini indexBudgetRevenues: $19 billion
Expenditures: $14.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $289 million (FY95/96 est.)
Taxes and other revenuesPublic debtRevenueFiscal year: 1 April_31 March
Inflation rate consumer pricesCentral bank discount rateCommercial bank prime lending rateStock of narrow moneyStock of broad moneyStock of domestic creditMarket value of publicly traded sharesCurrent account balanceExports: total value:$180.7 billion (including reexports; f.o.b., 1996)
Commodoties: clothing, textiles, yarn and fabric, footwear, electrical appliances, watches and clocks, toys
Partners: China 34%, US 21%, Japan 7%, Germany 4%, UK 3% (1996)
Imports: total value:$198.6 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
Commodoties: foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials, semimanufactures, petroleum; a large share is reexported
Partners: China 37%, Japan 14%, Taiwan 8%, US 8%, Singapore 5% (1996)
Reserves of foreign exchange and goldDebt external: none (1996)
Stock of direct foreign investment at homeStock of direct foreign investment abroadExchange rates: Hong Kong dollars (HK$) per US$ 7.74 (1997), 7.730 (1996), 7.800 (1995), 7.800 (1994), 7.800 (1993), 7.741 (1992; note_linked to the US dollar at the rate of about 7.8 HK$ per 1 US$
top of pageElectricityCapacity: 11.3 million kW (1996)
Production: 28 billion kWh (1996)
Consumption per capita: 3,968 kWh (1995)
CoalPetroleumCrude oilRefined petroleumNatural gasCarbon dioxide emissionsEnergy consumption per capitatop of pageTelephones: 4.37 million (1997 est.)
Telephone system: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services
Domestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network
International: satellite earth stations_3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; access to 5 international submarine cables providing connections to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe
Broadcast mediaInternetBroadband fixed subscriptionstop of pageMilitary expendituresDollar figure: $NA
Percent of gdp: NA%
Military and security forcesMilitary service age and obligationSpace programTerrorist groupstop of pageNational air transport systemCivil aircraft registration country code prefixAirports: 3 (1998)
With paved runways total: 3
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1 (1998)
Heliports: 1 (1997 est.)
PipelinesRailwaysTotal: 34 km
Standard gauge: 34 km 1.435-m gauge (1996 est.)
Note: also has 43 km of metro with 38 stations
RoadwaysWaterwaysMerchant marineTotal: 182 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,644,279 GRT/9,287,704 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 104, cargo 23, combination bulk 2, container 42, liquefied gas tanker 1, multifunction large load carrier 2, oil tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 3
Note: a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 13 countries among which are UK 26, South Africa 9, China 9, Japan 8, Bermuda 3, Germany 3, Israel 2, Canada 2, Belgium 1, and Norway 1; Hong Kong owns an additional 459 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 17,179,262 DWT that operate under the registries of The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Liberia, Malta, Panama, Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, and Vanuatu (1997 est.)
Ports and terminalstop of pageDisputes international: none
Refugees and internally displaced personsIllicit drugs: a hub for Southeast Asian heroin trade; transshipment and money-laundering center; increasing indigenous amphetamine abuse