Why Are People Leaving Hong Kong?

Hong Kong’s economic and political history has been primarily determined by its geographical location. The territory of Hong Kong comprises two main islands (Hong Kong Island and Lantau Island) and a mainland hinterland. It thus forms a natural geographic port for Guangdong province in Southeast China. In a sense, there is considerable continuity in Hong Kong’s position in the international economy since its origins were a commercial entrepot for China’s regional and global trade, and this still plays a role till date. From a relatively unpopulated territory at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Hong Kong grew to become one of the most important international financial centers of the world. Hong Kong also underwent a rapid and successful process of industrialization from the 1950s that captured the imagination of economists and historians in the 1980s and 1990s.

I moved out of my Hong Kong apartment last year, and a few months later that same apartment was listed online for 1500 dollars per month. Instead of the 2100 dollars that I had to pay each month for two years. That’s almost a 30% decrease but, don’t worry I am not a victim of a greedy landlord. It’s just that the rent in Hong Kong keeps falling: this is basic supply and demand. Because of Covid, you have fewer people moving to the city and more people leaving the city which has caused rents to plunge.

Although this article says they are just plunging 10 to 15 % but anyway I’m not bitter. Hong Kong has been the most expensive residential real estate market in the world. So, it is likely a highly welcoming change if you live there. But here’s the thing, it's not just the pandemic that causes a decline in housing prices. People are leaving quickly majorly due to political unrest that started in 2019 in which hundreds of thousands of people protested against Mainland China’s tightening grip on Hong Kong as Hong Kong is expected to be fully autonomous till 2047.

During this time, people who normally would have studied in Hong Kong but said they were actively trying to move to the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. In short, their parents wanted them to go to a place with more certainty. This shows the rising brain drain where some of society’s smartest minds leave because of economic or political reasons but there’s an interesting twist here. Hong Kong comprises 7.5 million people. An estimated 3 million of them are eligible to apply for a special visa that could guarantee a path to citizenship in The UK. The British Prime Minister predicts that 300,000 people who are eligible will leave Hong Kong and might move to Britain. Canada meanwhile is also a desired location for Hong Kongers leaving their country.

According to the Canadian government, they saw a 30% surge in applications from Hong Kong when it came to residency visas. Even politics aside, remember if you are young, traditionally you go where the jobs are. In 2019, Hong Kong faced its first recession in a decade, before the pandemic. In 2020, its economy shrunk by more than 6%, which is a new record. Exports and imports both fell to 35% and its unemployment is now 6.6%: the highest in 16 years. Imagine all this while also trying to afford paying rent and just live day to day in the world’s most expensive city. Perhaps it’s not a wonder to get a brain drain.