Hong Kong population declines for third year but at slower rate, as financial hub reopens

HONG KONG – The pace of decline in Hong Kong’s population abated as the city moved to reopen after years of pandemic isolation.

The city’s population fell by a net 12,900 people in the second half of 2022, down from a decrease of 55,400 in the first six months, according to government data released on Thursday.

The previously announced population drop of 121,500 in the year ending June 30 was revised to a fall of 67,000, data showed.

This was the third consecutive year of decline, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong registered 32,500 births in 2022 – a record low since such data was made available in 1961. There were also 62,100 deaths, which meant a net decline of 29,600.

Figures released by the Census and Statistics Department showed the city’s population slid to 7,333,200 in 2022. At the end of 2021, that figure stood at 7,401,500.

The net outflow of 60,000 residents in 2022 indicated a continued emigration trend. In 2021, the city logged only 9,400 departures.

The government said the net outflow included the movement of Hong Kong residents into and out of the city for various reasons, such as work, study and migration.

Hong Kong is trying to reverse a pandemic-fuelled exodus of residents. Since 2020,

tens of thousands of people have left

as pandemic curbs and national security laws restricted activities.

Among those who departed were the bankers, lawyers and other professionals who traditionally helped to make the city a freewheeling, international entrepot.

The outflow is straining an already ageing Hong Kong population.

While leader John Lee has

focused on reopening the city

since he came to power last July, the slow pace hindered its return to the global stage.

Unlike other international centres, Hong Kong retained many Covid-19 curbs for most of the second half of 2022. These included the obligatory use of a tracing app, limits on where visitors could go and a mask mandate.

The border with mainland China remained firmly shut

until January this year

, and international flights were constricted.

“The population decrease in the second half of 2022 has narrowed when compared to that in the first half, reflecting that movement of the Hong Kong population has begun to resume” gradually, a government spokesman said in a release accompanying the data.

Efforts to revitalise the city will take time to bear fruit.

People who have left the city might not settle down in other countries and might come back, said Professor Paul Yip, chair of population health at the University of Hong Kong. “But it will take a couple of years to see that trend of migration.”

Labour force

There is urgency to boost Hong Kong’s allure.

The economy has

shrunk for three of the past four years.

Home prices plunged about 15 per cent in 2022 in the biggest drop since the global financial crisis, according to a Centaline index.

Businesses are struggling to find workers to meet increased demand as visitors start to return. Local residents have been leaving in droves, along with expatriates.

“It is important to keep local talent,” said Professor Eric Fong, head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong. “They have been the majority in the labour market.”

Since August 2018, Hong Kong’s labour force has dropped about 5 per cent to 3.8 million people, according to the latest official figures.

Reviving the city’s status as a global financial centre

has national importance.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Mr Lee, when the Hong Kong Chief Executive visited Beijing in December, that the city needs to consolidate its role as an international hub, while President Xi Jinping praised Mr Lee for reviving the local economy and safeguarding national security.

Continued population outflows would threaten to undermine that goal.

Even as Hong Kong drops its pandemic curbs and reopens to the world, concern over the blurring of boundaries between the semi-autonomous city and mainland China is likely to endure. 

Schools are now required to celebrate National Security Education Day every April. The government said this week that television and radio broadcasters using public airwaves in Hong Kong will be required to run programming on issues such as the security law.

With countries such as Britain, Australia and Canada making it easier for people from Hong Kong to emigrate, pressure on the local population may continue.

More than 150,000 Hong Kong residents have applied for the British National (Overseas) visa programme since it was announced in July 2020. The programme offers a path to British citizenship.

“If you say the border is open and people will naturally come back, we may have to be careful about this kind of assumption,” Prof Fong said. BLOOMBERG