[ SCMP ] Hong Kong experiences ‘alarming’ population drop, but government says not all 90,000 leaving city because of national security law
Number of people in city now estimated to be 7.39 million, a 1.2 per cent drop in a year
Social administration expert Professor Paul Yip says officials should try and address the concerns of those going elsewhere
Nearly 90,000 residents have left Hong Kong amid a wave of emigration in the year after the national security law was imposed, leading to a significant 1.2 per cent drop in the city’s population.
The decline to 7.39 million people is the biggest since the local population saw the first signs of a decreasing trend in the middle of 2020, by 0.3 per cent year on year.
Before that there had always been steady growth since mid-2003, with an increase rate ranging from 0.2 to 1.1 per cent leading to a population of 7.5 million by the middle of last year.
But Paul Yip Siu-fai, chair professor in social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong, called the trend “alarming”, and said part of the decline was because of a sharp increase in net migration, on top of a low birth rate.
“Of course many people could be leaving Hong Kong to work and study, every year there are people doing so. But what is the reason that this year saw such an increase [from 20,900 to 89,200], the government needs to find out,” said Yip, adding authorities should also look into how emigration would affect the city’s long-term population changes.
“Some people are worried about changes in freedom of speech, as well as the city’s education system, while the [red lines] are unclear. Amid fears, if they had a choice, they might choose to emigrate. The government should try to address their concerns.”
Yip, a former member of the government’s steering committee on population policy, also expected the city to experience a continuous drop in overall population over the coming one to two years, mainly attributing that to high net migration.
But he said he believed the number of people emigrating could become steadier after that. The government should also consider more incentives in trying to boost the city’s birth rate, such as providing housing priorities for couples with newborns.
DPA Notes: 90,000 leaving Hong Kong isn’t exactly 900,000 leaving the city.
We do not see this as significant drain of human capital just yet, and the “exodus” is very much predictable given how China is tightening their grip and control over the rebel “state”.
We would imagine many of these that are leaving Hong Kong permanently would be those they are of the upper socio-economic class, and would not constitute to an situation that is not already predicted and expected by Beijing.