Economy of Hong Kong

Economy of Hong Kong
	Central and Victoria Harbour of Hong Kong
Currency	Hong Kong dollar (HKD)
Fiscal year	1 April – 31 March
Trade organisations	APEC, WTO, Group of Twenty (Chinese delegation), One Belt One Road, AIIB and ICC etc.
Country group	Developed/Advanced; High-income economy;
Statistics
Population	7,527,500 (2025)
GDP	$428.233 Billion (nominal; 2025); $594.533 Billion (PPP; 2025);
GDP growth	-3.7% (2022); 3.2% (2023); 2.5% (2024f); 3.5% (2025);
GDP per capita	$56,844 (nominal; 2025); $78,919 (PPP; 2025);
GDP by sector	Agriculture: 0.1%; Industry: 6.4%; Services: 93.6%; (2024);
Inflation (CPI)	1.9% (2022)
Population below poverty line	19.9% (2016 est.)
Gini coefficient	39.7 medium (2021)
Human Development Index	0.956 very high (2022) (4th); 0.840 very high IHDI (21st) (2022);
Labour force	3,385,727 (2024); 55.6% employment rate (2024);
Labour force by occupation	Agriculture, fishing, mining and quarrying: 0.1%; Manufacturing: 1.0%; Electricity, gas, water supply, and waste management: 1.1%; Construction: 4.4%; Wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels: 19.6%; Transport and communications: 9.5%; Financing, insurance, real estate, professional and business service: 43.5%; Community, social, and personal services: 20.9%;
Unemployment	4.3% (2022)
Average gross salary	HK$ 28,340; US$ 3,661 per month (2022 May)
Average net salary	HK$ 23,807; US$ 3,070 per month (2022 May)
Main industries	Financing and insurance, import and export trade, professional and business services
External
Exports	$582.1 billion (2024)
Main export partners	Mainland China 59.0%; United States 6.5%; Vietnam 3.2%; Taiwan 3.1%; India 3.0% (2024);
Imports	$630.8 billion (2024)
Main import partners	Mainland China 43.6%; Taiwan 11.3%; Singapore 7.9%; South Korea 5.8%; Japan 4.6% (2024);
FDI stock	$2.2 trillion (31 December 2017 est.); Abroad: $2.036 trillion (31 December 2017 est.);
Current account	$14.75 billion (2017 est.)
Gross external debt	$633.6 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Public finances
Government debt	0.1% of GDP (2017 est.)
Foreign reserves	$430.7 billion (April 2023)
Budget balance	+5.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Revenues	79.34 billion (2017 est.)
Expenses	61.64 billion (2017 est.)
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:; AAA (Domestic); AAA (Foreign); AAA (T&C Assessment); Outlook: Stable; Moody's:; Aa3; Outlook: Negative; Fitch:; AA+; Outlook: Stable
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

Hong Kong has a highly developed free-market economy. It is characterised by low taxation, almost free port trade and a well-established international financial market. The Hong Kong dollar is legally issued by three major international commercial banks, and is pegged to the US dollar. Interest rates are determined by individual banks in Hong Kong to ensure that they are market driven. There is no officially recognised central banking system, although the Hong Kong Monetary Authority functions as a financial regulatory authority.

Governed under positive non-interventionism and highly dependent on international trade and finance, it is regarded as a favorable place to start a company. A study showed that Hong Kong went from 998 registered start-ups in 2014 to over 2800 in 2018, with eCommerce (22%), Fintech (12%), Software (12%) and Advertising (11%) companies comprising the majority. The Economic Freedom of the World Index lists Hong Kong as the freest economy, with a score of 8.58 based on data from 2022.