The median monthly income of professionals recruited under Hong Kong’s leading talent admission scheme is HK$50,000 (US$6,390), more than double what locals are earning, and they are generating the equivalent of 1.2 per cent of the gross domestic product, the city’s leader has revealed.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Thursday the Top Talent Pass Scheme, which his administration introduced in December 2022 to counter a wave of emigration and bolster growth, was estimated to have added HK$34 billion to the HK$2.84 trillion economy.
“That’s equivalent to 1.2 per cent of our GDP,” he said.
Lee also noted the scheme had attracted almost 70,000 applications since its launch, with nearly 79 per cent being approved, almost 73 per cent of whom had already arrived. About 90 per cent of the talent came from mainland China.
“The heartening outcome shows that the scheme, which has just entered its first anniversary, has made significant contributions to expanding Hong Kong’s high-quality talent pool,” he said.
Most of the new arrivals were taking up high-skilled service and managerial jobs, with the median monthly income reaching HK$50,000, Lee said, citing a survey conducted by the Labour and Welfare Bureau in November. A quarter of them made more than HK$100,000 a month, he added.
According to figures released in the third quarter of last year, Hong Kong’s median monthly wage was HK$20,500.
The survey interviewed nearly 2,000 applicants and their spouses who had been in Hong Kong for over six months, according to Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun Yuk-han.
It found 54 per cent of the interviewees had secured local jobs and among them, 31 per cent were working in the financial services industry, 18 per cent in innovation and technology, and 17 per cent in commerce and trade.
About 10 per cent of the talent earned HK$200,000 or more a month, while 16 per cent of their spouses had found a job, earning a median income of HK$30,000 a month.
Overall, 43 per cent of respondents had settled in Hong Kong, with nearly 90 per cent of the remaining planning to do so within a year.
“The Top Talent Pass Scheme has achieved initial success, attracting many high-quality talented professionals to settle in Hong Kong,” Sun said. “The next step is to retain these talents and enhance competitiveness.”
The minister pledged to offer more comprehensive, one-stop support for the arrivals, which would include information on housing, education for children, entrepreneurship support and Cantonese study.
Hong Kong also began bolstering its existing talent admission schemes in October 2022 to attract 35,000 professionals every year.
3 out of 4 Hong Kong firms struggling to source talent ahead of 2024: survey
3 out of 4 Hong Kong firms struggling to source talent ahead of 2024: survey
All of the schemes combined had received more than 240,000 applications since the end of 2022, with about 140,000 approved.
Roughly 90,000 professionals arrived in Hong Kong in 2023, nearly three times as many as the annual target for all of the schemes.
Hong Kong’s economy is forecast to have grown by 3.2 per cent in 2023, following a contraction of 3.7 per cent in 2022.
Lawmaker Shang Hailong, who chairs the Hong Kong Top Talent Services Association, said he remained cautiously optimistic about the figures the officials provided.
“The question is whether the median income figure for top talent will remain,” he said. “If the local economy does not grow, I doubt the figure will remain at such high levels.”
He suggested the government craft ways to encourage the professionals to establish their own businesses in Hong Kong, so as to create more employment opportunities to sustain the salary figure.
Hong Kong scheme to lure capital, talent could reel in ‘HK$120 billion annually’
Hong Kong scheme to lure capital, talent could reel in ‘HK$120 billion annually’
In a related development, United States credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, reaffirmed Hong Kong’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating at “AA-” with a stable outlook.
The rating was based on the agency’s latest forecast of the city’s economic growth at 3 per cent for 2024 and 3.2 per cent for 2023. The growth was mostly fuelled by the steady resumption of tourism.
