Hong Kong Population Drops For Third Year in a Row

Many families are seen departing for the UK at the Hong Kong International Airport, on July 18, 2021. (Adrian Yu/The Epoch Times)

The Census and Statistics Department announced on Feb. 16 that the provisional population of Hong Kong at the end of 2022 is 7,333,200, a decrease of 68,300 or 0.9 percent compared with the population of 7,401,500 at the end of 2021. In 2022, there was a net outflow of 60,000 Hong Kong residents.

The population decline from the end of 2021 to the end of 2022 consists of the difference in number of births and deaths, and net emigration of Hong Kong residents, the difference between inflow and outflow. During the period, the number of births in Hong Kong was 32,500, and the number of deaths was 62,100, a population decrease of 29,500. In addition, the net outflow was 38,800, from the difference between the 21,200 inflow of one-way permit holders (from China) and the outflow of 60,000 Hong Kong residents.

Deaths progressively increased from 49,000 in 2019 to 62,100 in 2022, while births progressively dropped from 52,900 in 2019 to 32,500 in 2022. 

In Hong Kong, the total population at the end of 2022, usual residents accounted for 7,197,200, and floating residents stood at 136,000.

A government spokesperson said that net migration covers the movement of Hong Kong residents into and out of Hong Kong for various purposes such as work, study, and immigration, but there is no breakdown of the figures. Hong Kong residents are not required to declare their purpose of travel to the government when they leave the country. Therefore, the Government does not have direct statistics on the emigration of Hong Kong people. As an international city, Hong Kong has always had a high population mobility, the spokesperson said.