Moving home seen as 'educated' step

THE population of Hong Kong is very mobile. Some 1.1 million persons (aged five and over), representing one-fifth of the population, underwent internal movement during the period between 1986 and 1991, according to the 1991 Population Census.

To compile statistics on internal movement of population based on data from the census, we need to define who was a ''mover'' first. Movers are persons who move home to a different District Board district or a new town five years prior to the next census.

The ''area of origin'' of the mover relates to the address of previous residence, and the ''area of destination'' relates to the address of the current residence.

Hence, some people who move home just a small distance from their original residences are not considered to have undergone ''internal movement'' in the statistical analysis.

Almost 55 per cent of the persons who had moved were destined for the new towns in the New Territories. Kowloon and New Kowloon was the main area of origin. Of those who had moved, 52 per cent originated there.

As a result, the population in the New Territories increased by 25 per cent between 1986 and 1991, while that in Kowloon and New Kowloon decreased by 14 per cent.

Among those who had moved to the New Territories, more than half were from Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon. On the other hand, only nine per cent of those who had moved home to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon came from the New Territories.