Hong Kong Population

Hong Kong has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, under 0.8 children per woman and second in the UN's data only to neighbouring Macao, alongside some of the longest life expectancy anywhere. Its population peaked in 2020, as an emigration wave that followed the national security law compounded years of ultra-low births. The projection is one of the steepest declines on record for a wealthy territory, falling from over seven million toward two million by 2100.

Hong Kong is the world's 106th most populous country, home to about 7.4 million people in 2026. Set in Eastern Asia, its demographic path this century turns on the balance of births, deaths and migration. Population density stands at about 6,714 people for every square kilometre of land.

The peak is already behind Hong Kong: its population maxed out at about 7.5 million near 2020 and is contracting. By 2050 the UN expects around 6.1 million people, and by 2100 about 2.1 million.

Half of Hong Kong is currently younger than about 47, but by 2100 the median age is projected to reach around 72, even as life expectancy improves from about 86 years. A rising median age means fewer working-age people supporting each retiree over time.

Fertility is exceptionally low, near 0.73 births per woman, far beneath the roughly 2.1 needed to hold a population steady. Net outward migration also weighs on the total, with more people leaving than arriving.

These figures follow the UN's medium variant, the most widely cited scenario. The low and high variants, driven mainly by differing fertility assumptions, fan out into a wide range by 2100, so treat each number as a central estimate rather than a precise forecast.