Hong Kong’s doctors and nurses head for new lives in Australia, Canada and Britain, as 24,300 residents emigrate in 2017
Fears of a brain drain in health care sector as number leaving city spikes and consultant says 10 per cent are medical professionals
Hong Kong’s medical professionals increasingly opted for a life overseas in 2017 as part of the largest exodus of residents in five years, as 24,300 people left the city.
The latest emigration figures have exacerbated fears of a brain drain and manpower shortage at Hong Kong’s public hospitals. One migration consultant said 10 per cent of his clients seeking residency overseas were health care practitioners.
Record low population growth of just 0.4 per cent was recorded by the government’s Census and Statistics Department last year. Some 24,300 people emigrated – the highest number since 2012.
Among them were doctors and nurses in greater numbers because it was relatively easy for them to gain citizenship abroad amid a global shortage of medics, a Hong Kong lawmaker and a migration consultant said.
Australia, Canada and Britain remained the most preferred destinations for those tired of the city’s long working hours, congested living environment and contentious politics, the consultant said.