Hong Kong’s population: More and more people are leaving

China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is experiencing its largest population decline in decades. The reasons are the strict zero-Covid policy and the increasing influence of the communist state and party leadership.

More than 110,000 people have left Hong Kong in the past 12 months. This is significantly more than in previous years, according to figures from the Hong Kong Statistics Authority. The population of the Chinese special administrative region fell by 1.6 percent to around 7.3 million. That’s the biggest drop in decades.

The population has also declined in recent years, albeit not as sharply. Another factor behind the shrinking population: In Hong Kong, almost twice as many people have died in the past twelve months as were born.

The number of immigrants could not compensate for the decline. Hong Kong allows 150 people from mainland China to settle permanently in the city every day.

Guaranteed rights successively reduced

The main reasons for leaving Hong Kong are the strict zero-Covid policy with many restrictions in everyday life and forced quarantine upon entry – but also the increasing influence of the communist state and party leadership in the autonomously administered city.

In recent years, the government in Beijing has gradually reduced the rights originally guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong: the rule of law, freedom of the press and freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate. As a result of the so-called security law for Hong Kong, introduced in 2020, media houses have been closed and numerous people have been charged or imprisoned.

Several governments have made it easier for Hong Kongers to settle permanently in their countries, including Hong Kong’s former colonial power, Britain.