C&SD releases results of 2024/25 Household Expenditure Survey
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (June 9) the major results of the 2024/25 Household Expenditure Survey (HES).
It is an established practice in Hong Kong to conduct an HES once every five years to collect up-to-date information on the expenditure patterns of households. The survey results serve as an important data source for updating the expenditure weights of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and can also be used to study the consumption behaviour of households in Hong Kong.
Data collection for the latest HES was conducted from October 2024 to September 2025, and about 7 400 households participated.
According to the results of the 2024/25 HES, a household spent an average of $32,472 per month on food, consumer goods and services in Hong Kong, an increase of 7.4% compared with the 2019/20 survey results. The increase in average household expenditure over the past five years was mainly due to price inflation. On a per capita basis, the average monthly expenditure was $12,201, an increase of 13.9% compared with 2019/20.
Among the total household expenditure, housing and food had the largest expenditure shares, accounting for 39.3% and 24.1% respectively. In addition, miscellaneous services also accounted for a significant share (16.9%).
Analysed by type of housing, the average monthly expenditures for households residing in public, subsidised, and private housing were $16,181, $28,932, and $41,174 respectively.
Analysed by geographical area, the average monthly expenditure of households on Hong Kong Island was $45,334, higher than that of households in Kowloon ($28,434) and the New Territories ($31,024).
As for online purchases, the average monthly household expenditure was $1,467, accounting for 4.5% of the total expenditure. This represents an increase of 46.5% in the amount compared with 2019/20.
It is worth noting that the data collection of the 2019/20 HES was conducted during the COVID-19 epidemic, when household consumption patterns were severely affected. Caution is therefore required when interpreting comparisons between the 2024/25 and 2019/20 HES results.
Since 2021, the C&SD has reviewed and updated CPI expenditure weights annually. The 2024/25 HES results have been incorporated to comprehensively update the 2025 CPI expenditure weights. The updated weights have been adopted to compile the CPI starting from the reference month of April 2026.
More detailed statistics are available in the "Report on 2024/25 Household Expenditure Survey". Users can browse and download this publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1060003&scode=290).
For enquiries about household expenditure statistics, please contact the Price Research and Analytics Section (2) of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7384 or email: hes@censtatd.gov.hk).
Source: AI-found images
Results of monthly survey on business situation of small and medium-sized enterprises for May 2026
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (June 9) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for May 2026.
The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs increased from 44.0 in April 2026 in the contractionary zone to 44.4 in May 2026, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. June 2026) outlook DI on business receipts was 47.2. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for some surveyed sectors rose in May 2026 as compared with previous month, particularly for the restaurants (from 38.1 to 41.1), logistics (from 38.1 to 40.7) and retail trade (from 40.8 to 42.6).
The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades decreased slightly from 46.1 in April 2026 to 46.0 in May 2026, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. June 2026) was 47.8.
Commentary
A Government spokesman said that business sentiment amongst SMEs was largely stable in May, though remained cautious due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The current diffusion index on business receipts for SMEs improved somewhat from the preceding month, while the outlook diffusion index fell slightly. Meanwhile, the overall employment situation held steady.
Looking ahead, Hong Kong's resilient economic growth prospect should provide support to local business sentiment, but the evolving Middle East conflict remains a source of near-term uncertainty shaping sentiment. To help SMEs navigate these volatile market conditions, the Government has taken targeted measures, and will continue to closely monitor the situation.
Further information
The Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises aims to provide a quick reference, with minimum time lag, for assessing the short-term business situation faced by SMEs. SMEs covered in this survey refer to companies with fewer than 50 persons engaged. Respondents were asked to exclude seasonal fluctuations in reporting their views. Based on the views collected from the survey, a set of diffusion indices (including current and outlook diffusion indices) is compiled. A reading above 50 indicates that the business condition is generally favourable, whereas that below 50 indicates otherwise. As for statistics on the business prospects of prominent companies in Hong Kong, users may refer to the publication entitled "Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey" released by the C&SD.
The results of the survey should be interpreted with care. The survey solicits feedback from a panel sample of about 600 SMEs each month and the survey findings are thus subject to sample size constraint. Views collected from the survey refer only to those of respondents on their own companies rather than those on the respective sectors they are engaged in. Besides, in this type of opinion survey on expected business situation, the views collected in the survey are affected by the events in the community occurring around the time of enumeration, and it is difficult to establish precisely the extent to which respondents' perception of the business situation accords with the underlying trends. For this survey, main bulk of the data were collected around the last week of the reference month.
More detailed statistics are given in the "Report on Monthly Survey on the Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises". Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080015&scode=300).
Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact Industrial Production Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7246; email: sme-survey@censtatd.gov.hk).
