“The Women and Men in Hong Kong” report, which was published by the Census and Statistics Department on Friday, also showed the number of newborns last year rose by 10.5 per cent, but the overall population of children aged zero to 14 fell by 4.7 per cent.
According to the latest figures, Hong Kong’s population stood at 7.5 million at the end of 2024, comprising 4.1 million female residents and 3.4 million male residents, with the former category outnumbering the latter by 691,600.
A breakdown of the population data also showed that 3.9 million residents were married.
But the number of registered marriages fell from 47,723 in 2023 to 44,196 last year, a decline of 7.4 per cent. The 2024 figure was still higher than the 30,012 recorded in 2022, with the number believed to have been affected by Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
The number of residents, excluding foreign domestic helpers, who were widowed, divorced or separated continued to climb, reaching 835,200 in 2024, a 5.2 per cent rise from the year before and a continuation of a trend seen in 2022 and 2023.
