Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the total population at end-2016 dropped by 1,900 year-on-year to 644,900 due mainly to a decrease in the number of non-resident workers, marking the first year-on-year decline since 2009. Female population accounted for 52.6% of the total. The elderly population (aged 65 and over) made up 9.8% of the total, up by 0.8 percentage points year-on-year; the proportion of adult population (aged 15-64) dropped by 1.4 percentage points to 77.7%. The ageing ratio has been rising for twenty consecutive years, up by 3.3 percentage points year-on-year to 78.9%, which indicated a continuous ageing of the population.
A total of 7,146 live births were delivered in 2016, up by 91 year-on-year; the birth rate stayed the same as in 2015, at 11.0‰. The sex ratio of newborns stood at 109.4, corresponding to 109.4 male babies per 100 female babies. Mortality totalled 2,248 in 2016, up by 246 year-on-year; 56.7% of them were males. The number of mortality cases from Malignant neoplasms was the highest (815), comprising 36.3% of the total, up by 0.1 percentage point year-on-year; the proportions of mortality from Pneumonia & influenza (296) and Hypertension (187) grew by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year to 13.2% and 8.3% respectively.
Non-resident workers totalled 177,638 at end-2016, down by 4,008 year-on-year. Following the successive completion of large-scale entertainment facilities, non-resident workers in Construction dropped significantly by 8,868 (-20.4%) year-on-year. There were 6,327 Chinese immigrants in 2016, down by 2,141 year-on-year, with 4,876 coming from Guangdong Province. Female immigrants accounted for 60.9% of the total. A total of 1,447 individuals were granted right of abode in 2016, down by 337 year-on-year. Meanwhile, 1,290 illegal Chinese immigrants were repatriated to the Mainland, down by 488 year-on-year.
In 2016, marriage registration totalled 3,891 cases, up by 172 year-on-year. Median age at first marriage was 28.7 for the bridegrooms and 27.3 for the brides, up by 0.3 and 0.4 year respectively. Number of divorce cases increased by 77 year-on-year to 1,245, of which divorce by mutual consent accounted for 91.7%.
At end-2016, number of households totalled 189,200, down by 3,500 year-on-year.