Hong Kong Saw Record High Population Decline

Hong Kong’s international reputation has been hit hard in recent years due to political turmoil and strict pandemic control, coupled with the pro-democratic protests three years ago, more and more Hong Kong residents have left the land.

The latest figures from the Hong Kong Government’s Census and Statistics Department show that Hong Kong’s population has dropped from 7.41 million last year to 7.29 million this year. Over the past year, Hong Kong’s population fell by 1.6% year-on-year, the biggest drop in six decades, with more than 113,000 people leaving the city. The population also fell 0.3% last year compared to the same period a year ago, with 89,200 people leaving. That compares with 20,900 people who left the year before.

Analysts told the media earlier this year that the decline was due to its political turmoil and draconian pandemic restriction policies. Another Hong Kong Government spokesman said the population decline was also due to a lack of new immigration.

Lucy, a social worker at the University of Hong Kong, has lived in Hong Kong for ten years. She told the media via email that there was a marked acceleration in population migration last winter when Covid-19 cases surged. She said that when the fifth wave hits in early 2022, what she calls the perfect storm, that is when people suddenly leave in large numbers. But if the local people lived here before and after the peak of the pandemic, the population would continue to move out, and all people have to do is looking at their social calendars to see what parting events are happening, she expressed.