Figures show that women greatly outnumber men in Hong Kong, and women in search of a husband have felt the difference.

According to the 2001 population census, the sex ratio has changed from 1,038 males for every 1,000 females in 1996 to 960 for every 1,000 in 2001, a drop of 7.8 percent in the male population. Even more disconcerting, however, is that the number of women aged 25 to 35 exceeds that of men by nearly 100,000.

There simply do not seem to be enough eligible men for Hong Kong’s single women.

Eve Chan, director of Single Meeting Point, a local dating agency, said that this problem is common.

“While there are 10 women willing to meet one man, there are only five men willing to meet one woman using our services,” she said.

Single Meeting Point arranges introductions for interested couples after seeing photos of each other. If they want to take things further, they may keep in touch by themselves.

“Men have raised their requirements,” Ms. Chan said, “They prefer women with monthly incomes over $15,000 to share the family’s financial burden.”

In contrast, women have lowered their requirements for a mate.

“More women accept husbands who have lower incomes and educational backgrounds,” she said.

In addition to unequal gender ratios, women now tend to wait longer before marriage, creating a large pool of women in their 30s for men to choose from.

“Since women focus more on their careers, many of them will only start to think about marriage in their 30s,” Ms. Chan said.

“This results in an influx of women from this age group for men to choose from.”

Furthermore, while women often become less desirable on the dating market after a certain age, men tend to have a longer shelf life.

“Age is not a problem for men. They still have many chances, even at 40,” Ms. Chan said. “Also, more women aged around 30 are getting divorced, which gives men another choice.”

According to Prof. Ting Kwok Fai of the Department of Sociology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, however, the imbalance between the number of men and women has only a minimal impact on dating.

“Such an imbalance is not going to affect people’s requirements for a mate,” he said.

“At the time of the Second World War, the sex ratio was about 2 to 1. It was so extreme that women changed their requirements entirely. They had no requirements!”

He said that the current imbalance in Hong Kong is actually normal because women live longer than men.

Besides, census statistics have been skewed by the high number of Filipino maids and Mainland women living in Hong Kong.

“An influx of Filipino maids and Mainland women accounts for the imbalance, but it’s not likely for them to affect the marital affairs of local people,” Prof. Ting said.

“There are about 200,000 Filipino maids in Hong Kong. Their ages range from 20 to 40. They are either married or going to get married after they return home.”

With respect to Mainland women, Prof. Ting explained that most of them are the mothers, wives and daughters of local men.

“They are not going to compete with local women for husbands,” he said.

A sense of insecurity still lingers among singles, however.

According to Ms. Chan, the proportions of male and female members in her agency have clearly shifted.

“In 1999, most of our members were divorced men above 35, but now about 60 percent are women.

“About 20 percent of female members are executives or professionals with monthly incomes over $20,000. They are attractive, successful women who can have many opportunities to meet guys,” said Ms. Chan.

“They join us because they want to find a mate in a direct manner. They don’t want to guess if the other side feels interested or not. They don’t want to take the first step, either.”

Although men seem to have a larger pool of women to choose from, finding the right place to meet the right woman is not always easy.

Mr. Ben Ip (not his real name) joined Single Meeting Point six months ago after a friend of his found a partner at the agency.

Although Mr. Ip is a 34-year-old marketing manager for a telecommunications company and earns a good salary, he is too busy to find a partner by himself.

So far it seems that he is finding what he wants through the agency.

“I like diligent and elegant women. The women I met at Single Meeting Point are elegant and have stable jobs,” Mr. Ip said.

“We usually go to the cinema, sing karaoke and have dinner together.”

Mr. Ip said that Hong Kong men also have a better chance of finding a partner because they are more willing to be involved with Mainland women.

“There are more choices for men now because they are willing to marry Mainland women, but Hong Kong women are still resistant to Mainland men,” he said.

Unlike Mr. Ip, Lo Pui Lun, 33, will not join a dating agency in the hope of meeting a companion.

Instead, she has prepared herself for being single, something other women might begin to do if more eligible bachelors do not turn up.

“I have saved money and bought insurance for myself,” said Ms. Lo.

“My age is a big hurdle in finding a partner, but I don’t think being single is a problem,” she said.

“Just take it easy!”