Proactively responding to the challenges and opportunities that arise from the city’s ageing population trend, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has initiated the Jockey Club Age-Friendly City Project. Part of the initiative involves commissioning the Jockey Club Institute of Ageing at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to develop an AgeWatch Index specifically for Hong Kong, for the purpose of assessing the well-being of its senior citizens. Taking the Global AgeWatch Index as a base, the Institute found that overall Hong Kong ranked 19th out of 97 countries and regions in the index in 2015, and first in one of the four domains: enabling environment

This finding, together with other key results from the AgeWatch Index, was announced today (5 October), by the Club’s Head of Charities (Grant Making – Elderly, Rehabilitation, Medical, Environment & Family) Imelda Chan together with Director of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing Professor Jean Woo and Management Committee Member Professor Hung Wong.

“The Trust has long proactively supported and initiated projects aimed at improving the well-being of the elderly,” Ms Chan said. “We are taking a bottom-up and district-based approach to build age-friendly momentum at community level, as well as shifting the public’s perception of older people, so that we can work together to build an age-friendly city.”

The Global AgeWatch Index is a multi-dimensional index assessing the social and economic well-being of elderly populations in over 90 countries, representing 91% of people aged 60 and above in the world. It is composed of 13 indicators which can be categorised into four key domains – income security, health status, capability and enabling environment. This is the second year that the Trust has supported the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing in compiling an AgeWatch Index for Hong Kong, with the aim of providing an objective global comparison of achievements in various areas as well as improvements to the well-being of the local elderly population.

The latest findings for 2015 indicate that Hong Kong ranks 19th out of 97 countries or territories studied. Among the four domains, Hong Kong ranks first for its enabling environment, 61st in income security, 10th in health status and 40th in capability. Enabling environment includes the following indicators: social connections, physical safety, civic freedom and access to public transport. Hong Kong’s performance in physical health, physical safety and access to public transport is rated outstanding, while income security, mental health and social connection – the latter two of which have a strong correlation – are areas for improvement.

Professor Woo said, “This year’s findings restate the importance of building up older people’s social network and maintaining their mental health, as reflected in the below-average ranking of indicators of social connection and mental well-being. We are vigilant about the longer term changes in well-being of older people in Hong Kong, especially in social connection and psychological well-being. We highlighted the importance of building an age-friendly Hong Kong for older people. With support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, age-friendly district-based programmes will be implemented in eight pilot districts in Hong Kong. We hope these programmes can help improve older people’s social and mental well-being.”


The AgeWatch Index helps identify areas for improvement and facilitates project planning with a view to turning Hong Kong into an age-friendly city. In this regard the Trust has donated over HK$100 million to launch the Jockey Club Age-Friendly City Project. Under the Project, four of Hong Kong’s gerontology research institutes have conducted baseline assessment studies for eight pilot districts in eight key domains defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the current age-friendliness in society and to identify appropriate directions for action. The four institutes have also formed professional support teams to help community stakeholders improve age-friendliness at district level.

The Club is dedicated to improving the quality of life of Hong Kong's senior citizens and has contributed over HK$1.15 billion to the well-being of the elderly in the past decade. This includes the establishment of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing with a donation of HK$12 million from the Club to pursue community outreach initiatives, research projects and knowledge transfer programmes. The Institute is also collaborating with the Elderly Commission, NGOs and other universities to implement projects that can tackle issues related to the quality of care and services for the elderly in a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary manner.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a not-for-profit enterprise dedicated to community betterment. Through its integrated business model of world-class racing, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution, the Club generates substantial economic and social value and assists the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2015/16 the Club donated a record HK$3.9 billion to charity and paid a record HK$20.9 billion in tax. It is Hong Kong’s largest single tax payer and one of the world’s largest charity donors. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.