Hong Kong population rises to 7.5 million, boosted by border reopening and new talent schemes

Population stood at 7,498,100 in June, up 2.1 per cent from 7,346,100 from year ago, Census and Statistics Department figures show
Government also predicts population will reach 8.19 million by middle of 2046, driven mainly by programmes to lure talent and import workers

Hong Kong society

William Yiu

Published: 5:13pm, 15 Aug 2023

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Hong Kong’s population has rebounded sharply since its borders fully reopened in February and different talent schemes were launched, almost recovering losses caused by a wave of emigration over the past few years.

In a separate forecast issued on Tuesday, the government also predicted the city’s population would reach 8.19 million by the middle of 2046, driven mainly by programmes to lure talent and import workers, given the fertility rate was expected to remain low.

Figures released by the Census and Statistics Department showed the population rose to 7,498,100 in mid-2023 from 7,346,100 in the same period last year. The 2.1 per rise cent marks a sharp contrast from the 0.9 per cent decline in the previous midyear figure.

In the 12 months to June, 174,000 people came to the city, including 31,000 one-way permit holders from mainland China, up from 18,300 during the previous year, mostly due to the border fully reopening in February following the end of the pandemic. Stranded residents returning from overseas and the admission of people through different schemes were also reasons for the growth.

“With the gradual relaxation of anti-epidemic control measures since the second half of 2022, normal travel between Hong Kong and the mainland and other parts of the world has been progressively resumed,” a government spokesman said.

“Many Hong Kong residents who stayed abroad during the epidemic have returned to Hong Kong, while some mainland and overseas persons have also been admitted to Hong Kong through various schemes.

“A large net inflow of Hong Kong residents was hence recorded in the first half of 2023.”

In the year to June, the city also recorded 32,600 births and 54,600 deaths. The number of births fell compared with the previous 12-month period, with 35,100 recorded between June 2021 and June last year.

Hong Kong’s population declined for three consecutive years after peaking at 7.51 million in June 2019, just as the anti-government protests began to intensify. Beijing responded to the social unrest by imposing the national security law, leading several Western countries, including Britain, Canada and Australia, to offer bespoke pathways to citizenship for Hongkongers leaving the city.

Between January 2021 and March this year, about 172,500 residents applied for British National (Overseas) visas to settle in the United Kingdom. The British Home Office announced on Tuesday it was introducing a Priority Visa service for those with BN(O) status, allowing permits to be processed in five working days for those who needed to travel urgently.

The Post earlier reported that Canada had issued more than 22,500 open work permits for Hongkongers between 2021 and this past April.

But the city has replaced nearly all of the residents who have left. The Top Talent Pass Scheme, introduced last December by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, offers a two-year visa to candidates who have earned at least HK$2.5 million (US$320,500) over the past 12 months or graduated from one of the world’s top 100 universities and worked for three of the past five years.

Anyone who has graduated from the world’s top 100 universities in the past five years with less than three years of work experience can also apply, but the number is capped at 10,000 annually. Those who are not graduates of these universities are also eligible if they have earned at least HK$2.5 million in the year before they apply.

Successful applicants are allowed to bring their spouses and children to settle in Hong Kong. According to the Immigration Department, 25,961 applications were approved as of June, and 22,751 dependant visas were issued.

More than 95 per cent of the successful candidates were mainlanders, the Post reported earlier.

The government also said talent attraction and labour importation schemes would provide an important impetus for population growth in the decades leading to 2046.

“Throughout the projection period, the net inflow of population would comprise 890,000 one-way permit holders, 510,000 Hong Kong non-permanent residents admitted through various schemes and 240,000 foreign domestic helpers,” the spokesman said.

Authorities announced in June they planned to import 20,000 workers to address a manpower shortage in a number of industries, including aviation and construction.

Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, of the Election Committee constituency, said the population increase was clearly driven by the talent programmes, which were only a short-term solution.

“The talent we attract through various schemes may leave some day,” she said. “What the government should do is to convince them to take root in Hong Kong and encourage locals to have children. But the decision for one to stay and build a family also hinges on our city’s education, housing and medical system.”

New People’s Party lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convenor of the key decision-making Executive Council, said the latest figures proved the city should not be overly concerned about the number of residents leaving as their numbers could be quickly replaced with the various immigration schemes. The declining number of births was also in line with global trends, she added.