Hong Kong's population is ageing rapidly, and the youth population is shrinking further.
According to the latest census data, Hong Kong's population aged 15-34 has dropped by 253,000 compared with five years ago, a decrease of more than 10%.
By tracking and comparing the youth population aged 15-24 in 2016 and their changes in 2021, the number also decreased by 28,000, most of them from one age group.
The 2021 census data shows that there are 1.482 million young people aged 15-34 in Hong Kong (excluding foreign domestic helpers, the same below), a decrease of 253,000 or 14.6% from the 1.735 million in the 2016 population by-census.
The population under the age of 15 also decreased by 23,000 to 808,000, while the prime-age and middle-aged population (35-64 years old) increased slightly by 66,000 to about 3.35 million.
Specifically comparing the changes in the number of people in each 5-year-old group of the youth population, the two groups of 15-19 years old and 20-24 years old have the most obvious population reduction: the population of 15-19 years old has decreased by about 76,000 in five years, and the population of 20-24 years old has decreased by about 76,000. About 116,000.
The birth years of these two groups are between 1997 and 2006. Looking at the data, the birth population in Hong Kong was gradually declining. From the annual birth population of about 70,000 in the early 1990s, it fell to around 2000. The annual level of more than 50,000 people before the emergence of the child boom.
Among the working-age population, the proportion of young people aged 15-34 in the overall population continued to decline, from 26.5% in 2011 to 24.8% in 2016 and 20.8% in 2021.
The proportion of the population aged 35 to 49 also decreased, from 24.9% in 2011 to 22.1% in 2021.
Conversely, the proportion of the older, 50-64-year-old population rose to one in four.
As for tracking and comparing the youth population aged 15-24 in 2016 and their number in 2021 (aged 20-29), the result shows a decrease of 28,000, mainly from 15-19 years old in 2016, that is, 20-24 in 2021 year-old population, the number decreased by more than 20,000.
In that year, the population of 25-34 years old, that is, 30-39 years old in 2021, will increase by about 12,000 people.
Since the population born in the same year is compared, the above-mentioned population decrease is not due to an increase or decrease in the birth rate, but is driven by other reasons such as population flow.
The overall population structure is further unbalanced. By 2021, Hong Kong will account for 20.5% of the population aged 65 or above, officially entering a "super-aging society".
The proportion of the working-age population aged 15-64 fell to 68%, and the population under the age of 15 also fell to 11.4%.
The aging population will continue to increase. According to the Planning Department, the proportion of Hong Kong’s population aged 65 or above will reach 30% by 2040 (play the figure below to see the projected population pyramid).
