Civil service pension spending to top $50b next year

Nearly 170,000 retired civil servants and judicial officers will draw government pensions in the next fiscal year, with annual spending expected to exceed HK$50 billion.

The figures were disclosed by Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan during a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday.

Yeung said the number of civil service pension recipients rose from about 150,000 in the 2021-22 fiscal year to more than 164,000 in 2025-26, representing a 10 percent increase over the past five financial years.

She said an estimated 5,330 newly retired civil servants and judicial officers will begin receiving pensions in the 2026-27 fiscal year, bringing the total number of eligible recipients to nearly 170,000.

Total expenditure on pension payments and gratuities is expected to surpass HK$50 billion, reflecting a nearly 20 percent increase over the past five years.

The number of cases in which monthly pension payments ceased due to the death of retired civil servants stood at 2,578 in 2025-26, broadly within the range of about 2,000 to 2,500 cases annually over the past five fiscal years.

However, the overall number of pension recipients is still expected to record a net increase after taking into account the 5,330 newly retired civil servants and judicial officers.

On the Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme, Yeung said government contributions are expected to rise as the contribution rate increases with officers’ years of service. She added that officers appointed on or after June 1, 2000, have generally yet to reach the point of maximum eligibility.

Addressing the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme and the Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme, Yeung said the two systems are different forms of retirement protection.

She explained that the MPF scheme pays officers after retirement, while the Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme involves government contributions during their years of service.

Yeung added that only about 1,000 civil servants and judicial officers appointed under the MPF or Civil Service Provident Fund schemes are expected to retire in 2026-27, as most officers hired under the two schemes since June 1, 2000, have not yet reached retirement age.

As government contributions under both schemes are made throughout an officer’s service, no additional expenditure will be incurred when those officers retire, she said.

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