Against the backdrop of the national “15th Five-Year Plan,” Hong Kong needs to reassess its population and socio-economic planning. In recent years, while the total population has remained broadly stable, the city has experienced large-scale population inflows and outflows simultaneously. Data indicate that recent inflows have been increasingly dominated by highly educated and high-skilled talents, while the proportion of One-way Permit holders and low-skilled workers has declined. The article argues that, amid rapid changes in population structure, the government needs to strengthen its population projection capacity and adopt more flexible approaches to planning public services such as housing, education, and healthcare. In housing policy, greater attention should be paid to the private housing market and short-term accommodation needs, while education and healthcare planning should also account for population mobility and cross-border use of services. Overall, in response to the new normal of high population mobility, Hong Kong requires higher-level cross-departmental coordination and more dynamic planning mechanisms to reduce the risk of policy mismatches and enhance long-term resilience.
Large-Scale Population Inflows and Outflows in Hong Kong: Challenges for Socio-Economic Planning
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