8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Asia / Eastern Asia

Born in Hong Kong

About 1 in 3,199 people born in 2023 started life in Hong Kong. A boy can expect to live 83 years and a girl 88, up from 54 and 61 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 3,199
odds of being born here
41,300 births · Ranked 139th of 230
83 / 88
years of life, boys / girls
Was 54 / 61 in 1950
$64,388
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 11th of 203
100%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 28 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 120 in every 1,000 births to 1.8.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth82.8 years for boys, 88.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 51.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year57,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.3World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year67 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 4.3 children on average in 1950. Now it is 0.7, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman0.72UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth32.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

Economic output per personabout $64,388 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank WDI
Unemployment2.9% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.1% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person0.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming0% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed8% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment107% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Hong Kong, with 7.4 million people.

100%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Hong Kong7.4 million
Victoria956,800
Tuen Mun507,900
Sha Tin495,200
Sham Shui Po431,090
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Chinese95%
Cantonese90%
English51%
Chinese5%
Chinese, English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Yuen Long1.1 million
Sha Tin1.1 million
Central and Western1.0 million
Kowloon City770,749
Sham Shui Po District737,741
Wong Tai Sin District691,394
Kwai Tsing District566,336
Tuen Mun559,209
Sai Kung District535,229
Southern District438,764

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 18 regions
  • Yuen Long1.1 million
  • Sha Tin1.1 million
  • Central and Western1.0 million
  • Kowloon City770,749
  • Sham Shui Po District737,741
  • Wong Tai Sin District691,394
  • Kwai Tsing District566,336
  • Tuen Mun559,209
  • Sai Kung District535,229
  • Southern District438,764
  • Tsuen Wan395,379
  • Tai Po334,498
  • North District283,714
  • Islands269,205
  • Eastern District205,542
  • Kwun Tong District198,874
  • Wan Chai195,855
  • Yau Tsim Mong District187,322

People on the move

About 17% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are China, United States, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
China421,605
United States268,915
Canada204,515
Residents born abroad41.3% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 16.7% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostChina (421,605), United States (268,915), Canada (204,515)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $478.5 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

83% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 10%.

83%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
10%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2023)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Hurricane-strength storms since 198019NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

Born in Hong Kong, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Hong Kong

Elsewhere in Asia

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences