A 14pc leap in babies born last year alone will not solve problem of ageing population, expert says
Hong Kong's birth rate has jumped to its highest level in more than a decade, with 14 per cent more babies born last year than in 2005.
The increase was largely the result of a boom in babies born in the territory to non-local parents, which soared 69.7 per cent in one year and accounted for nearly a quarter of the 65,194 births last year. Babies born to non-local mothers and local fathers, however, fell last year by 3.8 per cent to 10,088.
Babies of Chinese descent born in Hong Kong have automatic right of abode under a 2001 court ruling.
The number of babies born to local mothers also rose, by 5 per cent to 39,062, following a 3.6 per cent increase in 2005, the first since 2000.
There were 41,489 marriages in Hong Kong last year - 38,624 at registry offices and 2,865 at licensed places of public worship.