Results of the Demographic Statistics for 2005

According to the information released by the Statistics and Census Service, resident population of Macao was estimated at 488,144 as at 31 December 2005, an increase of 22,811 over 2004; the annual growth rate for 2005 was 4.8%. Among the resident population, 51.7% were female and 48.3% were male. In terms of age distribution, the youth population (aged 0-14) accounted for 15.6%; the adult population (aged 15-64) and the elderly population (aged 65 and over) were 76.1% and 8.3% respectively. In the fourth quarter of 2005, there were 1,080 cases of live births and 392 mortality cases. In 2005, number of live births totalled 3,671, up 11.0% over 2004. Number of mortality cases reported was 1,615, up 5.3% compared with 2004; the major causes of death were “Diseases of the circulatory system”, “Neoplasms” and “Diseases of the respiratory system”. There were 884 cases of notifiable diseases reported in the fourth quarter of 2005, and the annual total was 2,442 cases, which included “Varicella (chickenpox)” (1,411 cases), “Tuberculosis of lung” (362 cases) and “Enterovirus infection” (218 cases). Meanwhile, 455 cases of marriage were registered in the fourth quarter of 2005; the annual total was 1,734 cases, down by 0.2% over 2004. In 2005, the median age of the first marriage was 26.9 for female and 29.7 for male. In the fourth quarter of 2005, 2,863 persons were granted authorization to reside in Macao and the annual total was 11,395 persons, bringing the year-end balance to 50,159 persons, an increase of 11,131 persons compared with 2004. Total number of legal immigrants from Mainland China was 3,335 in 2005, with 802 arriving in the fourth quarter. Among those arriving in 2005, 69.4% were female. In addition, the majority of the immigrants came from Guangdong that accounted for 69.8% of the total in 2005. In the fourth quarter of 2005, 171 illegal immigrants were repatriated and the annual total was 516 persons, up 28.0% over 2004. The year-end balance of the non-resident workers in 2005 was 39,411, an increase of 11,675 compared with 2004.