Hong Kong's population grows for second time since pandemic as more residents return to the city

The population of Hong Kong rose by 0.4 per cent to 7.50 million in 2023 owing to a growing number of residents returning to the city as well as a boost in government residential schemes.

This is the second time the population of Hong Kong has increased since the pandemic in 2020.

The increase of 30,500 people from 7.47 million in 2022 comes as the Chinese special administrative region is trying to bolster its economy and international appeal after three years of strict COVID rules.

Anti-government protests in 2019 followed by the government’s harsh national security law in 2020 were some of the reasons why Hong Kong’s economy saw a downfall.

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The government said the population increase was the second year since “normalcy resumed” in the former British colony.

“Many Hong Kong residents who stayed abroad during the epidemic have returned to Hong Kong throughout 2023. In the second half of 2023, there was still considerable inflow of Hong Kong Permanent Residents.”

The government also attributed the “successive admission of mainland and overseas persons through various schemes into Hong Kong” to a steady growth in population.

There was a net inflow of 51,700 Hong Kong residents recorded during the period, it said, with 79 per cent holding a ‘One-way permit’ a document issued by mainland China to allow them to reside in the city.

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The financial hub marks its second population after China’s population plunged or a second consecutive year in 2023, due to a record low birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths.

With inputs from Reuters