Hong Kong - Hong Kong's population grew by 0.9 per cent in the past year, taking the former British colony closer to the 7 million mark, government statistics revealed Friday.

The Census and Statistics Department said provisional figures showed the population increased by 59,300 in the 12 months that ended in June, bringing it to 6,985,200.

The increase comes as a result of births and the inflow of people with one-way permits from mainland China.

The figures revealed there were 75,200 births during the period plus an increase of 25,200 residents - mostly people moving to Hong Kong from China.

This increase was partly offset by 41,100 deaths.

Experts have claimed the population of Hong Kong, already one of the world's most densely populated cities, is to become even more crowded as its population grows by nearly 2 million in the next three decades.

However, the majority of the population increase was expected to be in migrants from mainland China, who would account for around 1.2 million of the new residents.

Fewer than 500,000 of the new residents would come from Hong Kong-born babies, according to predictions from the Census and Statistics Department. (dpa)