Hong Kong SAR, China flag Hong Kong SAR, China: Economic and Political Overview

Foreign trade figures of Hong Kong SAR, China

Foreign Trade in Figures

Hong Kong's economy is considered a model of capitalism due to its commitment to free trade, with foreign trade representing 384% of its GDP, the second-largest share worldwide after Luxembourg (World Bank, latest data available). In 2022, the largest category of imports into Hong Kong comprised "electrical machinery, apparatus, appliances, and their electrical components," constituting 45.7% of the total. Other significant import categories included "telecommunications, sound recording, and reproduction equipment," accounting for 11.3%, and "office machines and automatic data processing machines," making up 8.4% of Hong Kong's import value in the same year. As per exports, telecommunications equipment had the largest share (41.3%), followed by computer products and hardware (34.7%) and parts and accessories of computer hardware (22.2% - data Census and Statistics Department).

In 2022, export destinations included China (57.4%), the United States (6.2%), India (3.7%), Vietnam (2.4%), Japan (2.1%), the United Arab Emirates (2.1%), and Singapore (2.0%), whereas imports came chiefly from China (40.1%), Singapore (7.7%), South Korea (5.6%), Japan (5.3%), the United States (4.2%), Malaysia (3.4%), and Vietnam (2.7% - data Comtrade). Hong Kong was the world's 10th exporter and 11th importer in 2022 (WTO).

According to data by WTO, Hong Kong merchandise exports reached USD 609.9 billion in 2022 (-8.9% y-o-y), compared to USD 667.5 billion in imports (-6.3% y-o-y). As per services, exports stood at USD 82.9 billion against USD 63 billion in imports (+4.8% and +2.1% y-o-y, respectively). The overall trade balance for the year was estimated to be positive by 3.9% of the country’s GDP by the World Bank. The latest data from the Census and Statistics Department show that throughout 2023, there was a 7.8% decline in the total value of exported goods compared to 2022 (at HKD 4.1 billion), while concurrently, there was a 5.7% decrease in the value of imported goods (HKD 4.6 billion). Looking forward, factors such as heightened geopolitical tensions and a deceleration in global economic growth will persistently impact Hong Kong's export performance in the near future.

 
Foreign Trade Values 20192020202120222023
Imports of Goods (million USD) 577,834569,769712,358667,554653,696
Exports of Goods (million USD) 534,887548,773669,903609,925573,871
Imports of Services (million USD) 80,94054,94561,74663,22979,287
Exports of Services (million USD) 101,98266,92479,12183,07598,874

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20182019202020212022
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 376.9353.7350.7402.5383.8
Trade Balance (million USD) -32,272-15,362-5,3153,160-5,702
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) -7655,6686,66420,53514,171
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 4.5-7.2-6.915.8-12.2
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 3.7-6.1-6.717.0-12.6
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 188.6176.1174.4198.5189.9
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 188.3177.7176.3204.0193.9

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 20232024 (e)2025 (e)2026 (e)2027 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) -6.55.54.23.94.0
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) -5.35.04.14.04.0

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
Hong Kong is a member of the following international economic organisations: IMF, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ICC,  World Customs Organization (WCO), WTO, among others. For the full list of economic and other international organisations in which participates Hong Kong click here. International organisation membership of Hong Kong is also outlined here.
Free Trade Agreements
The complete and up-to-date list of Free Trade Agreements signed by Hong Kong can be consulted here.
 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)
2023
China 57.4%
United States 6.1%
India 3.8%
United Arab Emirates 2.7%
Vietnam 2.5%
See More Countries 27.6%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)
2023
China 40.0%
Singapore 6.8%
Japan 5.2%
South Korea 4.4%
United States 4.0%
See More Countries 39.6%

Source: Comtrade, 2024. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

Main Products

575.0 bn USD of products exported in 2023
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 33.7%
Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular...Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, incl. apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network [such as a local or wide area network]; parts thereof (excl. than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528) 11.3%
Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought...Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought or not further worked than semi-manufactured or in powder form 7.0%
Automatic data-processing machines and units...Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, n.e.s. 4.5%
Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying...Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of heading 8469 to 8472, n.e.s. 3.8%
See More Products 39.8%
654.8 bn USD of products imported in 2023
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 30.9%
Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular...Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, incl. apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network [such as a local or wide area network]; parts thereof (excl. than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528) 10.8%
Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought...Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought or not further worked than semi-manufactured or in powder form 9.1%
Articles of jewellery and parts thereof, of...Articles of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal (excl. articles > 100 years old) 3.2%
Automatic data-processing machines and units...Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, n.e.s. 3.1%
See More Products 42.8%

Source: Comtrade, 2024. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

To go further, check out our service Import-Export Flows.

 

Main Services

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2024. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

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Latest Update: July 2024