Hong Kong: national data show 20% fewer births in 2023 than the UN, yet 5% more children per woman
National figures: 33.2k births and 0.75 children per woman; the UN: 41.3k and 0.72. The national office and the UN count differently: who counts as a resident, how completely births are registered, how many women are of childbearing age. So the gaps in births and in children per woman can point in opposite directions.
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The UN estimate and the national publication are shown separately. Even the direction of the difference changes between the number of births and children per woman.
The bars are national values relative to the UN estimate for the same year, in percent. Zero is agreement with the UN, not zero births.
- Births thousand births per year
41.29 (2023) → 33.232 (2023)
UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024 → Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) Table 115-01012A (births, release 18 Sep 2026) and Table 115-01011 (TFR, release 3 Aug 2026)
- Total fertility rate children per woman
0.717 (2023) → 0.751 (2023)
UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024 → Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) Table 115-01012A (births, release 18 Sep 2026) and Table 115-01011 (TFR, release 3 Aug 2026)
Latest common year of births and children per woman in both publications within 2018–2023. Only cases where the two gaps point in opposite directions; the two versions are not averaged.
National data: births a year — final; children per woman — final.
A question for this picture
Which people does each publication count?