Hong Kong residents made 69.7 million trips to the Mainland last year - 6% higher than in 2006, the Census & Statistics Department says.

About 46.8 million trips were personal, up 7.8%, and 55.1% of those trips were made by men. The most popular destinations were Shenzhen (55%), followed by other places in Guangdong (40%).

People who made the most personal trips to the Mainland were aged 40 to 49 (24.8%), followed by people aged 50 to 59 (22.6%), and 60 and over (16.7%).

About 57.1% of the personal trips to the Mainland were made by employed people, with 29% 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.

These and other statistics are included in the September issue of the Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics, along with four feature articles - Hong Kong's Imports Measured on Free On Board Basis for 2007, Inward & Outward Portfolio Investment of Hong Kong 1998 to 2007, Socio-economic Characteristics of Hong Kong Residents Making Personal Travel to the Mainland of China 2007 and The Real Estate Sector in Hong Kong 1997 to 2006.

The digest can be downloaded here.