HK population contracts

Hong Kong's population shrank by 121,500 over the past 12 months due mainly to migration, according to official statistics released yesterday.

In mid-2022 Hong Kong had 7.29 million people after 113,000 people left. That was down 1.6 percent on the 7.41 million population in mid-2021.

Statistics also showed the number of deaths far outnumbered births. There were 61,600 deaths against 35,100 births.

Over the 12 months there was a net outflow of 95,000 people, while 18,300 arrived in Hong Kong with one-way permits.

But 113,200 Hongkongers exited the city, which was a 27 percent increase from an 89,200 outflow last year.

A government spokesman said the net outflow reflects the movement of residents in and out of the city for various reasons - such as work, study and migration.

A breakdown on the figures, however, was not available.

"Hong Kong residents traveling abroad are not required to declare to the government their purpose of travel," he added. "Therefore, the government does not have direct statistics on emigration of Hong Kong residents."

He added: "Hong Kong's population has always been mobile. During the past 10 years net outflows of Hong Kong residents other than one-way permit holders were recorded for most of the years."

There was also a warning that the situation of deaths surpassing births has become more serious. The number of births dropped from 59,500 in 2016 to 2017 to 35,100 over the past year.

"Hong Kong's fertility rate is persistently among the lowest in Asian economies," it was noted, though "the plunge in births in the last two years might also be attributable to the outbreak of Covid. "On the other hand, the number of deaths edged up gradually from 45,400 to 61,600 over the past five years in tandem with the aging trend of the population."

Amid the pandemic and travel restrictions, cross-border travel was seriously interrupted and fewer people arrived on one-way permits.

Although the number of one-way permit holders increased to 18,300 from 13,900 last year, it was still down on the prepandemic level of 44,000.

"Residents who left Hong Kong before the pandemic may have chosen to reside in other places temporarily or were unable to return," the spokesman added.

"These might have contributed to the net outflow of Hong Kong residents during the period."

Additionally, "it is believed the pandemic and the related quarantine requirements would have impacted the talent inflow, especially those on short-term employment visas or entry permits."

In any event, official efforts will continue to attract overseas talent to settle in Hong Kong and promote the flow of talent within the Greater Bay Area.

The administration said earlier that 14,700 people had applied for a certificate of no criminal conviction for emigration purposes last year, up 40 percent compared to 10,500 in 2020.

But the director of Goldmax Immigration, Benny Cheung Ka-hei, said the migration wave has been underestimated as those emigrating to the United Kingdom with a British National (Overseas) visa did not need to obtain a certificate, so they were not counted in the official figures.

He added that the number of people emigrating to the United Kingdom would likely continue to grow as British authorities are looking at allowing Hongkongers born after 1997 to emigrate as long as their parents have a BNO visa.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com