Hong Kong’s government says its population has shrunk for a second year as virus checks hampered the entry of new workers and births fell, but made no mention of the exodus of residents after ‘a repression against a pro-democracy movement.
The population in mid-2022 decreased by 1.6% compared to the previous year to 7,291,600, the Department of Census and Statistics announced on Thursday. It said there was a net outflow of 113,200 residents while only 18,300 new residents arrived.
The announcement gave no indication of how many thousands may have left because of the crackdown and a national security law that chilled free speech and left lawyers and business consultants uneasy about what they were allowed to do tell customers
Hong Kong spent two years under some of the strictest travel controls in the world, mimicking mainland China.
“The pandemic and related quarantine requirements are believed to have affected the inflow of talent,” the statement said. “The problem could be solved when quarantine and social distancing measures are relaxed.” Many of those leaving are young couples and recent university graduates who are a “very critical part” of the workforce, Paul Yip, a population expert at the University of Hong Kong, told state broadcaster RTHK.
“The magnitude of the outflow has been increasing in the past two years,” Yip said. This “may have an impact on Hong Kong’s economic development.” The government reported that there were 35,100 births in the first six months of 2022, down from 38,500 recorded in the same period a year earlier.
Hong Kong’s birth rate was already among the lowest in Asia and declined steadily over the past five years, the government said. He said this could have been exacerbated since early 2020 by the coronavirus pandemic. He said the death rate has also gradually increased due to the aging population.