LCQ14: Statistics on number of deaths
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Question:
Will the Government inform this Council of the total number of deaths in Hong Kong each week (i) from September 26, 2022, to January 8, 2023, (ii) from September 26, 2019, to January 8, 2020, and (iii) from September 26, 2018 to January 8, 2019, with a tabulated breakdown by age group?
Reply:
President,
According to the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174), the Registrar of Births and Deaths (i.e. the Director of Immigration) is responsible for keeping registers of all births and deaths occurring in Hong Kong. According to existing legislation, the nearest relatives/relatives or other relevant persons of the deceased have the duty to report information concerning such death to a registrar within 24 hours. It is worth noting that the Births and Deaths Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 was passed by the Legislative Council on January 18, 2023, and gazetted on January 27 of the same year (Amendment Ordinance). According to the Amendment Ordinance, the statutory time limit for registration of deaths by the nearest relatives or other relevant persons of the deceased will be extended from the current 24 hours to 14 days. The Amendment Ordinance is expected to commence on March 31, 2023.
The current register kept by the Immigration Department (ImmD) shows the number of deaths registration at different time periods, and is not necessarily the date of deaths concerned. The following reply is prepared based on the register of deaths for the time periods specified in the question, and that the ImmD does not keep the statistics on number of deaths registration by age.
(i) from September 26, 2022, to January 8, 2023
| Date | Total number of deaths registration |
| September 26 to October 2, 2022 | 992 |
| October 3 to October 9, 2022 | 878 |
| October 10 to October 16, 2022 | 921 |
| October 17 to October 23, 2022 | 816 |
| October 24 to October 30, 2022 | 973 |
| October 31 to November 6, 2022 | 935 |
| November 7 to November 13, 2022 | 944 |
| November 14 to November 20, 2022 | 957 |
| November 21 to November 27, 2022 | 906 |
| November 28 to December 4, 2022 | 940 |
| December 5 to December 11, 2022 | 868 |
| December 12 to December 18, 2022 | 976 |
| December 19 to December 25, 2022 | 1 074 |
| December 26, 2022, to January 1, 2023 | 1 065 |
| January 2 to January 8, 2023 | 1 419 |
(ii) from September 26, 2019, to January 8, 2020
| Date | Total number of deaths registration |
| September 26 to October 2, 2019 | 742 |
| October 3 to October 9, 2019 | 738 |
| October 10 to October 16, 2019 | 1 010 |
| October 17 to October 23, 2019 | 883 |
| October 24 to October 30, 2019 | 978 |
| October 31 to November 6, 2019 | 812 |
| November 7 to November 13, 2019 | 745 |
| November 14 to November 20, 2019 | 924 |
| November 21 to November 27, 2019 | 942 |
| November 28 to December 4, 2019 | 1 004 |
| December 5 to December 11, 2019 | 981 |
| December 12 to December 18, 2019 | 1 026 |
| December 19 to December 25, 2019 | 866 |
| December 26, 2019, to January 1, 2020 | 824 |
| January 2 to January 8, 2020 | 1 340 |
(iii) from September 26, 2018, to January 8, 2019
| Date | Total number of deaths registration |
| September 26 to October 2, 2018 | 821 |
| October 3 to October 9, 2018 | 1 037 |
| October 10 to October 16, 2018 | 898 |
| October 17 to October 23, 2018 | 804 |
| October 24 to October 30, 2018 | 933 |
| October 31 to November 6, 2018 | 782 |
| November 7 to November 13, 2018 | 854 |
| November 14 to November 20, 2018 | 863 |
| November 21 to November 27, 2018 | 881 |
| November 28 to December 4, 2018 | 865 |
| December 5 to December 11, 2018 | 892 |
| December 12 to December 18, 2018 | 903 |
| December 19 to December 25, 2018 | 732 |
| December 26, 2018, to January 1, 2019 | 865 |
| January 2 to January 8, 2019 | 1 250 |
Ends/Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:05
Issued at HKT 16:05
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