Fewer mainland Chinese settle in Hong Kong, leading to cut in population growth projection
Census official predicts that only 100 will take advantage of daily quota of 150, prompting a cut in the population growth estimate
Fewer mainlanders have been settling in Hong Kong under the one-way permit system, as arrivals fall below the daily quota, prompting census officials to warn of slower population growth.
Officials forecast that only two-thirds of the daily quota of 150 one-way visas would be used up in the medium to long-term.
The decline in recent years led the Census and Statistics Department to cut its annual population growth projection from 0.6 per cent in its 2011 estimate to 0.2 per cent in the latest report based on last year's figures.
READ MORE: Growth spurt: report shows 879,000 Hong Kong residents now from mainland China
In the 2011 estimate, the department assumed the daily inflow of one-way permit holders would continue to be 150.
Acting Commissioner for Census and Statistics Stephen Leung Kwan-chi told lawmakers yesterday that the lower take-up rate since 2013 could weaken further, with mainlanders expected to use only 100 out of the 150 daily permits available.
Hong Kong has one of the world’s lowest birth rates at 8.6 per 1,000 people last year, down from 13.5 in 2011, according to government statistics. The inflow of one-way permit holders is therefore crucial in adding to the overall population.
Under the scheme, launched in 1997 largely to allow family reunion, up to 150 permits are available for mainland applicants every day. In the past, many were mainland mothers seeking to join their children and husbands in Hong Kong.