There were 342,198 ethnic minorities living in Hong Kong in July 2006, constituting 5% of the city's population, according to a Census & Statistics Department report. Their median monthly income from main employment was $3,500.

Filipinos accounted for 32.9%, Indonesians 25.7% and whites 10.6%. The sex ratio of ethnic minorities was 293 men per 1,000 women, as compared with the overall sex ratio of 911 men per 1,000 women. After excluding foreign domestic helpers, the sex ratio was 959.

Younger age

For all ethnic minorities, 61.3% were aged 25 to 44 and had a median age of 32, seven years younger than the median whole population figure of 39. About 88.9% were born outside Hong Kong and 44.1% have resided in Hong Kong for seven years or more.

The proportion of ethnic minorities aged 15 and over who attended upper secondary school or attained higher education amounted to 70.1%, higher than that for the whole population figure of 55.6%. There were 30.3% of ethnic minorities aged 15 and over having attended post-secondary education, as compared to the 23% of the whole population.

The labour force participation rate for ethnic minorities was 85.7%, which was significantly higher than the whole population (60.3%). A total of 262,146 (76.6%) of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong worked, constituting 7.8% of the city's workforce. About 75.4% of them were engaged in elementary jobs, 16.5% managers, administrators and professionals, while 6.3% were clerks, service and shop workers.

About 77.2% of working ethnic minorities work in the community, social and personal services sector, 9% the wholesale, retail and import-export trades, restaurants and hotels sector and 7.2% the financing, insurance, real estate and business services sector.

Median income

Median monthly income from the main employment of working ethnic minorities was $3,500, about 35% of the whole working population. Excluding foreign domestic helpers, working ethnic minorities' monthly income from main employment was $15,500.

About 35.2% of ethnic minorities resided on Hong Kong Island, 27% in Kowloon and 37.8% in the New Territories. Of the 18 districts, 10.5% of ethnic minorities lived in the Central & Western, Eastern (9.9%) and Kowloon City (8.2%) Districts.

More details can be found in the Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities, available free here.