Hong Kong’s population remained "virtually unchanged" for the first time in a decade due to the influx of talent, the city administration has said.
The Asian financial hub's population is currently 7,527,500, with just a 0.0005 per cent increase from last year, the Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday.
A spokesperson attributed the population stability to the government's measures that attracted an influx of talent in the city, Xinhua reported. "The population remained virtually unchanged, as compared with that at mid-2024," the city administration said.
Data revealed that a net inflow of 18,200 Hong Kong residents was recorded during the period from mid-2024 to mid-2025. “Over the past few years, many people have moved to Hong Kong from mainland China and other places around the world," a government spokesperson said, according to the South China Morning Post.
For the first time since 2015, the population has not changed by at least 0.2 per cent, according to reports.
A steady flow of people relocating to Hong Kong from mainland China and elsewhere has helped counteract the city's natural population decline. According to the spokesperson, this trend contributed to a net increase of over 180,000 people between mid-2022 and mid-2025, leading to a stabilisation of the overall population. One-way permits allow Chinese residents to relocate and settle in Hong Kong.
Among the total population in mid-2025, about 279,900 were mobile residents who stayed for one to three months, the authorities said.
The city administration also reported that the revised year-end population for 2024 stood at 7,500,600, comprising 7,219,900 usual residents and 280,700 mobile residents.
The increase comes as the Chinese special administrative region is trying to bolster its economy and revive its international appeal after a domestic political crisis and three years of stringent Covid rules, which ended in 2023.
More than 177,000 residents left Hong Kong between mid-2020 and mid-2022 following anti-government protests in 2019 that prompted Beijing to impose a sweeping national security law.
In contrast to the former British colony, the Chinese mainland recorded a population decline for the third straight year in 2024. China's population stood at 1.408 billion at the end of 2004, a decline of 1.39 million from the previous year.
The figures follow trends worldwide, but especially in East Asia, where Japan, South Korea and other nations have seen their birth rates plummet.
