The latest provisional estimate of the Hong Kong population stood at 7,448,900 in mid-2018, with one-way permit holders from the mainland making up the majority of the increase.
The figure, released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday, represents an increase of 0.8 per cent or 57,200 people since mid-2017.
The natural increase in the population since mid-2017 was 7,600 – with 55,000 births and 47,300 deaths. There was a net movement of 49,600 people over the same period, of which 41,000 were incoming one-way permit holders. 8,500 new arrivals came from elsewhere.
Hong Kong accepts up to 150 one-way permit holders to move to Hong Kong per day. However, the Hong Kong government does not have the power to approve who can come to the city from the mainland.
The Hong Kong population can be separated into usual residents and mobile residents, which stand at 7,228,100 and 220,800 respectively. Usual residents are permanent residents who have stayed in Hong Kong for at least three months during the six months before, or after, the reference time-point. The figure also includes non-permanent residents who are in Hong Kong at the reference time-point.
Mobile residents are those who have stayed in Hong Kong for at least one month, but less than three months, during the six months before or after the reference time-point.
The revised year-end figure for the population in 2017 was 7,413,100. The number of usual residents was revised to 7,181,400, and the number of mobile residents to 231,700. The population growth rate from the end of 2016 to the end of 2017 was also revised to 0.5 per cent.
The corresponding revised figure for the mid-2018 estimate will be released in February 2019.
