Hong Kong residents made 70.3 million trips to the Mainland last year - 0.8% higher than in 2007, the Census & Statistics Department says. About 46.5 million trips were personal, down 0.8%, and 53.7% of those trips were made by men.

People who made the most personal trips to the Mainland were aged 50 to 59 (23.6%), followed by people aged 40 to 49 (23.5%), and 60 and over (17.7%).

About 55.4% of the personal trips to the Mainland were made by employed people, with 27.3% of them in the wholesale, retail and import-export trades, restaurants and hotels sector. About two-thirds of the trips were made by people with monthly earnings below $15,000.

The most popular destinations were Shenzhen (57%), followed by other places in Guangdong (38%).

These and other statistics are included in the September issue of the Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics, along with three feature articles - Trade in Services of Hong Kong, Socio-economic Characteristics of Hong Kong Residents Making Personal Travel to the Mainland of China 2008, and Patent Statistics for Hong Kong, 1998 to 2008.