New data from CIA prompts welfare minister to suggest Hong Kong might now have the lowest fertility rate in the world
Central Intelligence Agency ranks city as fourth lowest after Taiwan, Macau and Singapore, but Dr Law Chi-kwong suggests that might change if mainland mothers and domestic workers are taken into account
Hong Kong could have the lowest fertility rate in the world if only births from local women are assessed, the city’s labour and welfare minister warned on Sunday, and said more policies were needed to encourage births.
This came as data published by the Central Intelligence Agency World factbook, ranked Hong Kong fourth – after Taiwan, Macau and Singapore – lowest in the world in terms of fertility rates, at just 1.19.
Writing in his weekly blog, Dr Law Chi-kwong said the figure would be much lower if the 9 to 10 per cent of babies born to non-permanent resident mainland women and Hong Kong spouses, as well as domestic workers, were excluded from the count.
“We should be aware that this figure includes babies born to mainland mothers and to foreign domestic helpers, whom are not included the total local female population,” he said.
There are about 5,000 to 6,000 mainland mothers married to permanent residents whose children comprise about nine to 10 per cent of the fertility rate. There are also about 380,000 domestic helpers, almost all of them women, in the city.