What’s new: Hong Kong’s population rose slightly in 2023 to around 7.5 million, mainly due to the return of residents after the pandemic and the city’s efforts to lure overseas talent, local authorities said.
“The population registered an increase for the second consecutive year since normalcy resumed in Hong Kong,” a government spokesperson said in a statement published by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday.
The city, which is struggling with an aging society, also recorded an estimated 33,200 newborns in 2023, a 2% increase on the year, the department’s data showed. This is also the first rise in the number of births since 2016 after six consecutive years of decline.
The background: Hong Kong’s brain drain intensified during the Covid pandemic, putting pressure on its labor market and threatening its economic recovery. This prompted local authorities to roll out a number of talent and visa schemes.
Between January and November last year, Hong Kong received more than 200,000 applications under various talent admission schemes, a nearly fourfold increase compared with 2022, government data showed.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.
