Advertisement
Advertisement
Hong Kong is known as a shopper's paradise, and apparently locals under 40 aren't immune to its commercial charms either, as their credit card usage attests. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Crazy for credit cards: Hongkongers aged 18-35 spend over 46 per cent of monthly income on credit purchases

GLORIA CHAN

Hongkongers aged 18 to 35 who have at least one credit card spend an average of 36 per cent of their monthly income on purchases made with a card – or HK$8,270 – and take 19 months to pay back their loans, a survey showed.

The study, commissioned by Prime Credit and conducted by Hong Kong University’s public opinion programme, arrived at the average figures after interviewing 497 Hongkongers born post-1980 in August. It found that half of the interviewees ranked buying a property as their most important life goal and 40 per cent believed they could achieve that target within 10 years.

However, almost 80 per cent of those interviewed admitted that in the face of credit card debts, they continued high-expenditure activities such as travelling overseas, buying the latest phone models, and dining at expensive restaurants.

READ MORE: The (low) price of credit card loyalty: the truth about bonus point schemes

Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, director of HKU’s public opinion programme, pointed out that credit card debt among those born post-1990 was more serious than those born in the 1980s. “Although [the post-90s group] earn less on average, they spend more on credit card purchases – on average, their credit card purchases reach 46 per cent of their monthly salary,” he said. “This is a matter of public education on financial management.”

DON'T MISS: Hongkongers are lost: Christopher Doyle reveals why he made Occupy film

Simon Lee Siu-po, co-director of the integrated BBA Programme at Chinese University, warned that many of the post 90s generation’s optimism towards buying a property within 10 years was unfounded and due to their “naivety”.

“[Young people] have limited sources of income but have so many channels to spend money,” he said “Many of them don’t realise if they don’t change their current expenditure habits and improve on work skills, the chances of them buying property are very slim.”

According to government statistics, the average increase in salaries over the past 10 years was 3.37 per cent, while the average increase in home prices over the same period was 12.8 per cent.

Post