HKO Recaps 2025 Weather and Prepares for 2026 Outlook at Press Briefing

Director of Hong Kong Observatory highlights HKO's latest services and annual weather outlook

The Director of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), Dr Chan Pak-wai, hosted a press briefing today (March 23) to recap the weather in 2025 and elaborate on the weather outlook for Hong Kong this year as well as the HKO's latest services.

Dr Chan said that, according to the World Meteorological Organization's assessment, 2025 was the second or third warmest year on record globally. Locally, 2025 was the sixth warmest year on record. In particular, October 2025 was exceptionally warm, breaking the records of monthly mean temperature, monthly mean minimum temperature, and number of hot days and hot nights for October. Hong Kong also experienced the warmest winter on record from December 2025 to February 2026, with the winter mean temperature reaching 19.3 degrees, 2.0 degrees above the normal. In addition, there were five Black Rainstorm Warnings, breaking the annual number on record since the rainstorm warning system began operation in 1992. 14 tropical cyclones necessitated the issuance of tropical cyclone warning signals, the highest annual number since 1946.

Looking ahead to 2026, the tropical cyclone season in Hong Kong is expected to start in June or later and cease in October or before this year. There will likely be about 4 to 7 tropical cyclones coming within 500 kilometres of Hong Kong during the year, which is near normal. With the possibility of El Niño development later this year and the continued warming of the climate, the annual mean temperature in Hong Kong is expected to be above normal this year with a high chance of reaching the warmest top 10 on record. The annual rainfall in Hong Kong is expected to be near normal, ranging from 2 100 millimetres to 2 700 millimetres. However, Hong Kong would still be affected by rainstorms and localised heavy rain. Members of the public are reminded to be prepared for the rain and tropical cyclone seasons.

Dr Chan highlighted the continual enhancement of the HKO's various services. In order to keep members of the public informed of the changes in coastal sea levels, the HKO launched a new webpage for Coastal Sea Level (Trial), providing total water level forecasts for the next 12 hours for 14 existing tide stations in Hong Kong. In addition to astronomical tides, the forecast also includes sea level anomalies caused by storm surges associated with tropical cyclones and other meteorological factors, such as monsoons. The Realtime Tides charts on the "MyObservatory" mobile application have also been enhanced with the total water level forecast information, facilitating planning of activities near the shore and allowing for appropriate advance precautionary measures against seawater inundation when the situation warrants.

The coastal sea level forecasts do not include wave effects such as overtopping waves. However, considering wave overtopping as one possible cause of sea flooding in coastal regions, the HKO will include forecast information on overtopping waves in the tropical cyclone warning bulletins to alert members of the public of the direction of the coast that may be affected when significant overtopping waves are expected to affect Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, following the launch of Greater Bay Area weather information on the "MyObservatory" mobile application at the end of 2024, the HKO will introduce progressively a trial version of location-specific weather information for cities in the Republic of Korea and Thailandin the second half of this year to provide current weather and weather forecasts. Users can stay updated on the latest official local weather through the "MyObservatory" app even when they are travelling in these countries to better prepare for their travel plans.

To strengthen information dissemination service to assist the public to cope with the hot and humid weather, the HKO will launch on its website Hong Kong Heat Index data, which reflects the combined effect of temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation of more districts in the second quarter of this year.

On communication with the public, the HKO is committed to sharing a wide range of weather information and scientific knowledge through various social media platforms. In response to the advancements in artificial intelligence, the HKO will gradually utilise AI technology to assist in video production of "Weather Family", such as festival weather outlooks, in order to enrich the content and enhance presentation quality.

To enhance students' interest in meteorological science, the HKO will collaborate with the Hong Kong Meteorological Society to organise the "Young Weather Presenter" competition in the second half of this year, inviting local upper primary students to participate via their schools. Through the competition, students can deepen their understanding of weather, enhance their scientific communication skills, and raise the awareness of climate change. Outstanding participants will have the opportunity to represent Hong Kong in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao "Young Weather Presenter" competition held in Guangdong, where they can learn and exchange ideas with students from the three places.

Dr Chan's speech at the press briefing is available on the HKO's website at:https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/dhkovoice/files/speech20260323e.pdf

Director of Hong Kong Observatory highlights HKO's latest services and annual weather outlook Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Survey results of 2025 Annual Earnings and Hours Survey released

Monthly wage

According to the statistics released today (March 23) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the median monthly wage of employees in Hong Kong in May – June 2025 was $21,200. This was 3.5% higher than the median of $20,500 in May – June 2024.

The change in monthly wage in 2025 when compared with 2024 is useful in reflecting the change in take-home pay of employees between these two years.

In May – June 2025, the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentile monthly wages of Hong Kong employees were $11,000, $15,300, $33,000 and $51,300 respectively. They were 2.8%, 3.4%, 3.3% and 2.7% higher than the corresponding figures in May – June 2024 respectively (Table 1).

As shown in Table 2, increase in median monthly wage was observed for both male and female employees and for all age groups, educational attainments, occupational groups and industry sections.

Hourly wage

The median hourly wage of employees in Hong Kong in May – June 2025 was $85.7, 3.4% higher than the median of $82.9 in May – June 2024. The 5th, 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentile hourly wages were $47.2, $51.1, $61.3, $135.9 and $214.2 respectively. The overall hourly wage distribution of employees is shown in Table 3. The number of employees analysed by selected hourly wage level is shown in Table 4.

In May – June 2025, the median hourly wage of male employees was $96.8 while that of female employees was $75.8. Analysed by age group, the median hourly wage of employees at age 35 – 44 was the highest ($100.0), followed by employees at age 25 – 34 ($90.0) and at age 45 – 54 ($86.4). The median hourly wages of employees of different sexes, age groups, educational attainments, occupational groups and industry sections are given in Table 5.

Further information

The above wage statistics were compiled based on the data obtained from the 2025 Annual Earnings and Hours Survey (AEHS). The purpose of the survey is to provide comprehensive data on the level and distribution of wages, employment details and demographic profile of employees in Hong Kong. These statistics are useful for studies on labour-related topics by the private sector and the Government. They also provide important inputs for analyses related to the Statutory Minimum Wage. A sample of about 10 000 business undertakings was selected for the survey.

Wage(s) is defined to include basic wage, commission and tips not of gratuitous nature, guaranteed bonuses and allowances, and overtime allowance paid to an employee in the survey period. It does not cover bonuses and allowances of gratuitous nature, end of year payment and payments in kind. Number of working hours is the sum of contractual/agreed working hours (including meal breaks if they are regarded as working hours according to the employment contract or agreement with the employer) and overtime hours worked at the direction of employers.

By arranging the hourly wages of all employees from the smallest to the largest value, the median hourly wage is the hourly wage of the employee who ranks in the middle of all the employees concerned. In other words, the median hourly wage is the hourly wage value that delineates the lowest 50% of all the employees concerned.

Percentile hourly wage figures are useful in discerning the distribution of hourly wage of employees. The pth percentile hourly wage is the hourly wage value which delineates the lowest p% of all the employees concerned, where p can be any integer value from 1 to 99. For instance, the 10th percentile hourly wage is the hourly wage value that delineates the lowest 10% of the employees. The 25th percentile, 50th percentile and 75th percentile hourly wages are also known as the lower quartile, median and upper quartile hourly wages respectively.

The median and percentile monthly wage figures are derived similarly as the median and percentile hourly wage figures.

Regarding the survey coverage, the AEHS covers all business undertakings irrespective of their employment sizes and industries, except those engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing activities. All employees of business undertakings falling within the scope of the survey who are under the coverage of the Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) are included in the survey. Government employees as well as student interns, work experience students and live-in domestic workers as exempted by the MWO are excluded. As it is necessary to derive the hourly wage of employees from their monthly wages and hours of work, those employees with zero working hours in the survey reference period are also excluded.

Details of the wage statistics compiled from the 2025 AEHS and the survey methodology are given in the 2025 Report on Annual Earnings and Hours Survey. Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1050014&scode=210).

Enquiries concerning the survey results of the AEHS can be directed to the Wages and Labour Costs Statistics Section (2) of the C&SD at 3105 2369.

Source: AI-found images