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to press release index ¡¥CUHK¡¦ Hong Kong Quality of Life Index Reveals the Continuous Improvement of Hong Kong Quality of Life
According to the ¡¥CUHK¡¦ Hong Kong Quality of Life Index released this year, the preliminary score of the Index of 2005 is 107.47. It is higher than the scores of 2004 (106.97), 2003 (104.20) and 2002 (100), indicating that the quality of life in Hong Kong has improved consistently. The social and environmental sub-indices increased continuously from 2002 to 2005 while the economic sub-index increased from 2002 to 2004, but declined slightly in 2005. As compared with last year, 13 of the 21 indicators improved in 2005. The standardized mortality rate, the stress index, the overall crime rate and the unemployment rate declined in this year. The index of current economic conditions, the press freedom index and the age participation rate for first-degree programmes and post-graduate programmes in local universities were higher in 2005. Hong Kong people were more satisfied with their lives, and their satisfaction with the performance of the HKSAR Government drastically increased. With regard to the environment, the air quality, water quality, noise level and the recycle rate of municipal solid waste were better than that in the previous year. Six indicators were worse in this year. Public expenditure on both health and education as a proportion of GDP declined. The press criticism index also declined. This might be because Hong Kong citizens are in general satisfied with the government under the leadership of the Hon. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, Chief Executive. While the local economy began to recover, the real rental index increased, and the housing affordability ratio and the real wage index dropped. In sum, as compared with 2004, 13 indicators were better and 6 were worse in 2005, while the life expectancy at birth and notification rate of notifiable infectious disease remained unchanged. In 2003, the Faculty of Social Science designed the ¡¥CUHK¡¦ Hong Kong Quality of Life Index. It is the intention of the Faculty to use this composite index to measure and keep track of Hong Kong quality of life in the 21st century, and to provide policy makers and the community with a useful reference tool. It also aims to advocate the quality of life in Hong Kong and draw public attention to this issue. Starting from the year of 2003, the Index is released annually. The ¡¥CUHK¡¦ Hong Kong Quality of Life Index consists of 21 indicators that are grouped into three sub-indices (see Appendix 1). The indicators are selected according to the coverage, measurability, representativeness, and importance to the quality of life in Hong Kong. Taking the year of 2002 as the base year of the study, the ¡¥CUHK¡¦ Hong Kong Quality of Life Index of 2002 is 100. If the Index of a year is above 100, it means that the quality of life in Hong Kong in that year is better than that in 2002. If the index below 100, it reveals that the quality of life in Hong Kong in that year is worse than that in 2002. If the Index is 100, it indicates that the Hong Kong quality of life in that year is the same as that in 2002. For further enquires on the ¡¥CUHK¡¦ Hong Kong Quality of Life Index, please contact Prof. Andy Kwan of the Department of Economics at 2609 8196. Appendix 1: Composition of 'CUHK' Hong Kong Quality of Life Index Appendix 2: Data for Compiling the 'CUHK' Hong Kong Quality of Life Index |