Hong Kong’s population rises, reversing years of reporting drops

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s population grew as the city dismantled pandemic curbs and the economy bounced back.

The city saw an increase of 152,000 people in the 12 months to June from a year earlier, pushing its population to 7,498,100 as at mid-2023.

It was the highest figure since 2019 when the city’s mid-year population hit 7,507,900.

Based on the data, the population grew by 1 per cent in 2022, the first increase in three years. For the 12 months to end-June, the gain was 2.1 per cent. 

“Many Hong Kong residents who stayed abroad during the epidemic have returned to Hong Kong, while some mainland and overseas people have also been admitted to Hong Kong through various schemes,” a government spokesman said in a statement accompanying the data.

Since 2020, tens of thousands of people have left the financial hub as strict pandemic curbs and

a Beijing-imposed national security law

restricted activists and reshaped civil society. Among those who have left are lawyers, bankers and other professionals who helped make the city freewheeling.

The increase in population may help the Asian hub’s efforts to revitalise its economy after its borders reopened, ending years of pandemic isolation.

The tourism industry, in particular, has struggled to find workers to staff its restaurants and hotels.

Hong Kong’s population is expected to reach 8.19 million in mid-2046, the government said, adding that it has launched various talent attraction and labour importation schemes to help drive future population growth in the next two decades.

The city’s fertility rate is expected to remain low, while population ageing is expected to continue.

“The number of elderly people aged 65 and over is projected to nearly double over the 25-year period,” the government said, with one in every three Hong Kong people classified as elderly by 2046.

Hong Kong

narrowed its economic growth forecast for 2023

last week to a range of 4 to 5 per cent, as an initial post-pandemic activity boom falters and challenges from China and the rest of the world weigh on the financial hub.

The city’s crackdown on dissent under a Beijing-imposed national security law was also a push factor behind departures. That campaign has raised questions about the Asian hub’s liberal institutions and legal system that underpin the former British colony’s status as a financial centre. BLOOMBERG