External merchandise trade statistics for May 2025
In May 2025, the value of total exports of goods increased by 15.5% over a year earlier to $434.1 billion, after a year-on-year increase by 14.7% in April 2025. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 18.9% over a year earlier to $461.4 billion in May 2025, after a year-on-year increase by 15.8% in April 2025. A visible trade deficit of $27.3 billion, equivalent to 5.9% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in May 2025.
For the first five months of 2025 as a whole, the value of total exports of goods increased by 12.6% over the same period in 2024. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 12.9%. A visible trade deficit of $124.7 billion, equivalent to 5.8% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first five months of 2025.
Comparing the three-month period ending May 2025 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of total exports of goods increased by 10.0%. Meanwhile, the value of imports of goods increased by 11.9%.
Analysis by country/territory
Comparing May 2025 with May 2024, total exports to Asia as a whole grew by 21.8%. In this region, increases were registered in the values of total exports to most major destinations, in particular Japan (+96.2%), Malaysia (+55.3%), Taiwan (+54.8%), Vietnam (+41.2%), India (+35.1%) and the mainland of China (the Mainland) (+17.6%). On the other hand, a decrease was recorded in the value of total exports to Korea (-25.6%).
Apart from destinations in Asia, decreases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations in other regions, in particular the United Kingdom (-52.0%) and the USA (-18.4%).
Over the same period of comparison, increases were registered in the values of imports from most major suppliers, in particular Vietnam (+67.3%), the United Kingdom (+49.2%), Taiwan (+33.5%), Malaysia (+27.7%) and the Mainland (+18.5%).
For the first five months of 2025 as a whole, increases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations, in particular Vietnam (+58.5%), Taiwan (+39.7%), Japan (+20.4%) and the Mainland (+17.9%). On the other hand, a decrease was recorded in the value of total exports to the United Arab Emirates (-24.0%).
Over the same period of comparison, increases were registered in the values of imports from most major suppliers, in particular Vietnam (+76.4%), the United Kingdom (+55.8%), Taiwan (+48.9%), Malaysia (+34.2%) and the Mainland (+9.4%). On the other hand, a decrease was recorded in the value of imports from Korea (-19.6%).
Analysis by major commodity
Comparing May 2025 with May 2024, increases were registered in the values of total exports of most principal commodity divisions, in particular “electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof” (by $27.4 billion or +15.5%) and “office machines and automatic data processing machines” (by $18.9 billion or +44.9%).
Over the same period of comparison, increases were registered in the values of imports of most principal commodity divisions, in particular “electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof” (by $40.4 billion or +23.7%) and “office machines and automatic data processing machines” (by $21.7 billion or +69.4%).
For the first five months of 2025 as a whole, increases were registered in the values of total exports of most principal commodity divisions, in particular “office machines and automatic data processing machines” (by $125.1 billion or +66.1%) and “electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof” (by $103.3 billion or +12.0%).
Over the same period of comparison, increases were registered in the values of imports of some principal commodity divisions, in particular “electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof” (by $122.8 billion or +14.6%) and “office machines and automatic data processing machines” (by $115.9 billion or +81.5%).
Commentary
A Government spokesman said that the value of merchandise exports continued to show resilience, picking up strongly by 15.5% in May over a year earlier. Exports to the Mainland and most other Asian markets grew visibly further. Exports to the European Union turned to moderate growth, while those to the United States fell.
Looking ahead, the sustained steady growth in the Mainland economy and Hong Kong’s enhanced economic and trade ties with different markets should render support to trade performance. The Government will continue to closely monitor the external environment and stay vigilant to the elevated geopolitical tensions and uncertainties surrounding trade policies.
Further information
Table 1 presents the analysis of external merchandise trade statistics for May 2025. Table 2 presents the original monthly trade statistics from January 2022 to May 2025, and Table 3 gives the seasonally adjusted series for the same period.
The values of total exports of goods to 10 main destinations for May 2025 are shown in Table 4, whereas the values of imports of goods from 10 main suppliers are given in Table 5.
Tables 6 and 7 show the values of total exports and imports of 10 principal commodity divisions for May 2025.
All the merchandise trade statistics described here are measured at current prices and no account has been taken of changes in prices between the periods of comparison. A separate analysis of the volume and price movements of external merchandise trade for May 2025 will be released in mid-July 2025.
The May 2025 issue of “Hong Kong External Merchandise Trade” contains detailed analysis on the performance of Hong Kong’s external merchandise trade in May 2025 and will be available in early July 2025. Users can browse and download the report at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1020005&scode=230
Enquiries on merchandise trade statistics may be directed to the Trade Analysis Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4691).
Issued at HKT 16:30
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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Wage and payroll statistics for March 2025
According to the figures released today (June 26) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the average wage rate for all the selected industry sections surveyed, as measured by the wage index, increased by 3.5% in nominal terms in March 2025 over a year earlier.
About 62% of the companies reported increase in average wage rates in March 2025 compared with a year ago. A total of 34% of the companies recorded decrease in average wage rates over the same period. The remaining 4% reported virtually no change in average wage rates.
After discounting the changes in consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (A), the overall average wage rate for all the selected industry sections surveyed increased by 1.6% in real terms in March 2025 over a year earlier.
As for payroll, the index of payroll per person engaged for all the industry sections surveyed increased by 3.2% in nominal terms in the first quarter of 2025 over a year earlier.
After discounting the changes in consumer prices as measured by the Composite Consumer Price Index, the average payroll per person engaged increased by 1.6% in real terms in the first quarter of 2025 compared with a year earlier.
The wage rate includes basic wages and other regular and guaranteed allowances and bonuses. Payroll includes elements covered by wage rate as well as other irregular payments to workers such as discretionary bonuses and overtime allowances. The payroll statistics therefore tend to show relatively larger quarter-to-quarter changes, affected by the number of hours actually worked and the timing of payment of bonuses and back-pay.
Sectoral changes
For the nominal wage indices, year-on-year increases were recorded in all selected industry sections in March 2025, ranging from 3.1% to 4.1%.
For the real wage indices, year-on-year increases were also recorded in all selected industry sections in March 2025, ranging from 1.1% to 2.1%.
The year-on-year changes in the nominal and real wage indices for the selected industry sections from March 2024 to March 2025 are shown in Table 1.
As for the nominal indices of payroll per person engaged, year-on-year increases were recorded in all selected industry sections in the first quarter of 2025, ranging from 2.0% to 3.9%.
For the real payroll indices, year-on-year increases were also recorded in all selected industry sections in the first quarter of 2025, ranging from 0.4% to 2.3%.
The year-on-year changes in the nominal and real indices of payroll per person engaged for selected industry sections from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025 are shown in Table 2. The quarterly changes in the seasonally adjusted nominal and real indices of payroll per person engaged in the same period are shown in Table 3.
Commentary
A Government spokesman said that wages and labour earnings continued to increase in all surveyed industries in the first quarter of 2025 over a year earlier.
The average wage rate for all selected industries increased by 3.5% in nominal terms in March 2025. After discounting for inflation, the average wage rate increased by 1.6% in real terms.
Payroll per person engaged, which includes basic wage, discretionary bonuses and other irregular payments, rose by 3.2% in nominal terms and 1.6% in real terms in the first quarter of 2025.
Looking ahead, the expansion of the Hong Kong economy should render support to labour demand and thus wages and labour earnings, though the external uncertainties and the changing consumption patterns of residents and visitors may continue to pose challenges.
Other information
Both wage indices and payroll indices are compiled quarterly based on the results of the Labour Earnings Survey (LES) conducted by C&SD. Wage index only covers employees up to the supervisory level (i.e. not including managerial and professional employees), whereas payroll index covers employees at all levels and proprietors actively engaged in the work of the establishment.
Apart from the differences in employee coverage, wage statistics are conceptually different from the payroll statistics. Firstly, wage rate for an employee refers to the sum earned for his normal hours of work. It covers basic wages and other regular and guaranteed allowances and bonuses, but excludes earnings from overtime work and discretionary bonuses, which are however included in payroll per person engaged. Secondly, the payroll index of an industry is an indicator of the simple average payroll received per person engaged in the industry. Its movement is therefore affected by changes in wage rates, number of hours of work and occupational composition in the industry. In contrast, the wage index of an industry is devised to reflect the pure changes in wage rate, with the occupational composition between two successive statistical periods being kept unchanged. In other words, the wage index reflects the change in the price of labour. Because of these conceptual and enumeration differences between payroll and wage statistics, the movements in payroll indices and in wage indices do not necessarily match closely with each other.
It should also be noted that different consumer price indices are used for compiling the real indices of wage and payroll to take into account the differences in their respective occupation coverage. Specifically, the Composite Consumer Price Index, being an indicator of overall consumer prices, is taken as the price deflator for payroll of workers at all levels of the occupational hierarchy. The Consumer Price Index (A), being an indicator of consumer prices for the relatively low expenditure group, is taken as the price deflator for wages in respect of employees engaged in occupations up to the supervisory level.
Detailed breakdowns of the payroll and wage statistics are published in the “Quarterly Report of Wage and Payroll Statistics, March 2025”. Users can browse and download the publication at the website of C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1050009&scode=210
For enquiries on wage and payroll statistics, please contact the Wages and Labour Costs Statistics Section (1) of C&SD (Tel: 2887 5550 or email: wage@censtatd.gov.hkIssued at HKT 16:30
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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
DH further optimises online registration system for dental general public session
(1) Add “iAM Smart” and “eHealth” as channels for registering for GP sessions
Members of the public who wish to register for dental GP sessions may perform real-time identity authentication by logging on to the “iAM Smart” or “eHealth” apps. Their personal particulars (including name, identity document number, gender and date of birth) will be automatically filled into the registration system, reducing registration time and minimising the possibility of manual errors.
(2) Optimise the waiting list mechanism
The registration system is added with a “Cancel Appointment” function. People who are successfully allocated a service quota but wish to cancel the appointment may use the “Enquiry of Ballot Result or Cancel Appointment” function to select “Cancel Appointment” and confirm. The ORDGP will automatically allocate the vacated quota to candidates on the waiting list. Successful waitlisted applicants will receive an SMS notification by 9pm on the day of registration. For easy authentication, SMS messages issued by the DH bear the identification “#DH-DENT GP” with the prefix “#”. Relevant SMS messages will not contain hyperlinks.
(3) Enhance the enquiry function of the ballot results
Those who registered via the website only need to provide their Hong Kong identity card (ID) number and date of birth to enquire about their registration records or ballot results. They do not need to enter the date of issuance of their ID cards. Those accessing the registration system through the “iAM Smart” or “eHealth” apps do not need to re-enter their personal details to enquire about their registration records or ballot results.
(4) Add the enquiry service of successful appointment record in “eHealth”
Members of the public who registered for the dental GP sessions and are successfully allocated service quotas through the “iAM Smart” or “eHealth” apps, the person, along with their family members or carers registered with “eHealth”, can check their relevant appointment records of service quota through the “eHealth” app.
The ORDGP has been operating smoothly since its launch on December 30, 2024. Members of the public, especially the elderly, no longer need to go to dental clinics to queue in the early morning to compete for a service quota. Since the launch of the ORDGP, the average utilisation rate of the GP sessions is as high as 99 per cent. To optimise the use of public resources, the DH reminds members of the public who have been successfully allocated service quotas to utilise the new “Cancel Appointment” function if they are unable to attend the dental GP sessions, so that the service quotas could be reallocated in time to those with emergency needs.
The scope of services provided by the dental GP sessions includes prescription for pain relief, tooth extraction and management of other urgent conditions (such as oral abscesses). The DH will continuously review the operation and effectiveness of the enhanced ORDGP, with a commitment to improving service accessibility for the public.
Issued at HKT 13:00
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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
In response to media enquiries regarding triggering of the weak-side Convertibility Undertaking under the Linked Exchange Rate System, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has the following responses:
The weak-side Convertibility Undertaking (CU) of HK$7.85 to US$1 under the Linked Exchange Rate System (LERS) was triggered during the New York trading hours earlier this morning. The HKMA sold US dollars (USD) for Hong Kong dollars (HKD) of HK$9.42 billion upon the request of banks. The Aggregate Balance will reduce to HK$164.1 billion on June 27. The weak-side CU was last triggered in May 2023.
The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue, stated, “The strong-side CU was triggered several times in early May, resulting in total inflows of HK$129.4 billion. The subsequent abundance of liquidity in the HKD market led to a decline in HKD interbank rates, and the widened HKD-USD interest rate differential incentivized carry trade activities that sold HKD for USD, causing the HKD exchange rate to weaken. Furthermore, market demand for HKD declined recently due to a combination of factors, including the peaking of the stock dividend payout season, the currency conversion of HKD proceeds raised from recent IPOs or bond issuances by non-local companies for repatriation, as well as the wrapping up of the seasonal half-year-end funding preparation. These factors collectively led to the triggering of the weak-side CU, which is in line with the operation of the LERS.
“The public should exercise caution in managing their interest rate risks and market risks. Depending on the direction of capital flows and the supply-demand conditions for HKD, the weak-side CU may be triggered again in the future. As the Aggregate Balance declines, HKD interbank rates may increase, which is consistent with the design of the LERS. The HKMA will continue to closely monitor market developments and the external environment to ensure the orderly operation of the Hong Kong dollar markets,” he added.