香港兒童權利委員會
Hong Kong Committee on Children's Rights

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HK Children's Situation
HK Children's Situation

Definition of "Child"

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), "Child" means any person under the age of 18.


Basic data/statistics on children (updated in March 2021)

Population in HK 7,474,200
(end-2020)
Children aged under 18 years 1,014,800
(mid-2018)
Birth rate 7.0
(per 1000 population)
Infant Mortality Rate
(Infant mortality refers to death of those aged below 1 year old)
1.5
(per 1000 registered live births) (2018)
Life expectancy at birth Male: 82.2 years
Female: 88.1 years
(2019)
Total Enrolment in Special Education 181,200
(2019)
Children living under the poverty line 8,411
(2019)
Children with disabilities aged below 18 residing in domestic households (including restriction in body movement, seeing difficulty, hearing difficulty, speech difficulty, mental illness / mood disorder, autism, specific learning difficulties and attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder) 24,000
(2013)
Number of disabled persons aged under 18 not studying 900
(2013)
Juveniles and young persons arrested
Juveniles (aged 10-15)
Young persons (aged 16-20)
 
1,218
2,769
(2020)
Newly reported child abuse cases 940
(Jan-Dec 2020)
Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme - Type of childhood infectious diseases the free immunization scheme protect from - Tuberculosis
- Poliomyelitis
- Hepatitis B
- Diphtheria
- Whooping cough (pertussis)
- Pneumococcal infection
- Tetanus
- Chickenpox (newly added)
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Cervical cancer
Free education 15 years
(3 years of half-day kindergarten education, 6 years of primary education, 3 years of secondary education (S1-S3) and 3 years of diploma of secondary education (S4-S6))
Dropout rate
(Ages 6-15; Primary 1 to Secondary 3)
2,150 cases (about 0.40%)
Dropout rate = No. cases / Student enrolment of the school year x 100%
(2017/18 school year)
Age permitting to buy and watch category III films and Class II magazines Age 18
In accordance with the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance, child pornography is defined as The pornographic visual depiction of a person who is or is depicted as being a person under 16
Age permitting to enter adult game centres Age 16
Age permitting to enter betting branches Age 18
Age permitting to buy alcohol products and cigarettes Age 18
Legal age for tattoo Age 18
Age permitting to vote Age 18
Age of getting Hong Kong juvenile identity card Age 11
Age of getting Hong Kong identity card Age 18
Age permitting to get married with parents' signature Age 16
Age permitting to get married without parents' signature Age 21
Legal age of having sex with person of different sex Age 16
Legal age of having sex with person of the same sex Age 16
Legal age for full-time employment Age 15
Legal age for part-time employment (with the conditions of not affecting normal school education) Age 13
Age of criminal responsibility Age 10
Age of child allowed to give unsworn evidence Age 14
In accordance with the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance, the age of 'child' is defined as Under 14
Age of offenders being heard in juvenile courts Under 16

Reference

Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR
http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/home/index.jsp

Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR - Miscellaneous Social Surveys
http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp453.jsp?productCode=C0000055

Department of Health - Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme
http://www.fhs.gov.hk/english/main_ser/child_health/child_health_recommend.html

Report on Enrolment Statistics 2019/20
https://www.edb.gov.hk/tc/about-edb/publications-stat/figures/index.html

Commission on Poverty - Archives
http://www.povertyrelief.gov.hk/eng/archives.html

Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau - Children's Rights Forum - Children Statistics and Information (Chinese Version only)
http://www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/child_statistics.htm

Department of Justice - Bilingual Laws Information System
http://www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/index.htm

Hong Kong Police Force - Crime Statistics
https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/09_statistics/index.html

Spouse/Cohabitant Battering and Sexual Violence Cases
https://www.swd.gov.hk/vs/index_c.html#s3

Trends of Infant Mortality in Hong Kong 1951 to 2018
https://www.statistics.gov.hk/pub/B72003FB2020XXXXB0100.pdf

Legislative Council Subcommittee on Integrated Education - Reports
http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr15-16/english/panels/ed/ed_ie/reports/ie_rpt.htm