HK Seeing Population Development 'watershed'

A demographics expert on Monday said Hong Kong is seeing a "watershed" in its population development, after official figures showed that Hong Kong's population fell by 87,000 people over the past year, or about 1.2 percent, to 7,394,700.

Professor Paul Yip from the University of Hong Kong's Department of Social Work and Social Administration told RTHK that Hong Kong is not only being affected by migration, but also negative growth. He expects the rate of deaths to continue, adding that it is unlikely the birth rate will increase substantially.

"There is a watershed, a turning point, which Hong Kong will experience a rapid ageing population and if the present situation continues, I think that would have some significant impact on the population development of Hong Kong," he said.

"It means there will be less economic producers in Hong Kong and we would need to work harder to attract foreign talents to come to Hong Kong."

In a statement last week, the government said the drop from mid-2020 to mid-2021 can be attributed to a natural decrease, whereby the number of deaths was higher than the number of births.

Another reason, authorities said, was a net outflow of Hong Kong residents, with 89,200 people having left the SAR and only 13,900 coming to the territory.

Officials had blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and stringent border restrictions for deterring people – such as One-way Permit holders, foreign domestic helpers, students and workers – from coming to Hong Kong.