Population: 6 706 965 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (male 637 808; female 591 900)
15-64 years: 71% (male 2 360 878; female 2 425 291)
65 years and over: 11% (male 312 033; female 379 055) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.24% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 12.85 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 5.87 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 15.41 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.24 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.81 years
male: 76.07 years
female: 81.74 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.36 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Chinese
adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups: Chinese 95% other 5%

Religions: eclectic mixture of local religions 90% Christian 10%

Languages: Chinese (Cantonese) English

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 92.2%
male: 96%
female: 88.2% (1996 est.)