113,200 residents leave Hong Kong in 12 months, contributing to 1.6 per cent drop in population, census figures show

More than 113,000 residents have left Hong Kong amid an emigration wave over the past 12 months, contributing to a record 1.6 per cent drop in the population and marking the second straight annual decline in numbers.

Figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Thursday showed the population slid to 7,291,600 from 7,413,100 recorded in the middle of 2021. The city recorded 61,600 deaths and 35,100 births between mid-2021 and mid-2022, leading to a decrease of 26,500 people.

The decline to 7.29 million people was sharper than last year’s 1.2 per cent decrease.

The data showed 113,200 residents left between mid-2021 and mid-2022, continuing a trend of Hongkongers packing their bags for other shores in recent years.

The number of departures was nearly 1.3 times higher than the amount recorded the year before, when 89,200 residents left. In the 12-month span before that, covering widespread social unrest and the enactment of the national security law, about 20,900 people left.

Aside from newborns, the city’s population was supplemented by the addition of 18,300 one-way permit holders from mid-2021 to mid-2022. The immigration scheme allows 150 mainland Chinese to settle in Hong Kong each day.

A government spokesman said stringent border control rules and quarantine measures adopted to control Covid-19 infections risks were partly responsible for the limited inflow of people, noting the number of one-way permit holders and foreign domestic helpers remained low.

“Hong Kong residents who had left Hong Kong before the pandemic may have chosen to reside in other places temporarily or were unable to return to Hong Kong,” he said of the outflow.