Poll reveals widening income gap in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's poorest 20 per cent take up just 6 per cent of society's income share while the rich take up 43 per cent, a poll has found as the city's notoriously wide income gap continues to worsen.

The survey, conducted last year by Ipsos Media Atlas, polled 6,100 Hongkongers aged between 12 and 64. The results represent about 5.5 million of the city's population, Ipsos said.

Respondents were divided into five groups based on their monthly household incomes, and an average income was calculated for each group.

The poll revealed that the bottom fifth took just 6 per cent of the total income share of those surveyed, while the top fifth took 43 per cent.

"The income disparity is serious," said Ipsos director Susanna Lam Fung-san. "There are signs the situation is deteriorating."

The average monthly household income for the bottom tier increased by just 2 per cent over the past four years, while the top tier saw theirs rise by 10 per cent and the second highest tier's income went up by 14 per cent.

Ho Hei-wah, director of NGO Society for Community Organisation, said this showed that the city's income disparity was not simply a result of its greying population - which the government had blamed for the gap.