Hong Kong population falls from mid-year amid protests

[HONG KONG] The Hong Kong population at end-2019 declined from the mid-year count for the first time in nearly two decades amid frequent street protests that rocked the city in the second part of the year.

The decline was driven by a drop in so-called usual residents, which fell by 7,900 in end-December from end-June, according to data provided by the Census and Statistics Department Tuesday. Usual residents make up 97 per cent of the overall population, which fell from mid-year for the first time since December 2002, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.

Usual residents are officially defined as permanent residents who have stayed in Hong Kong for at least three months during the six months before or six months after the reference time period, as well as non-permanent residents who are in the city at the time.

Tensions have flared in the former British colony as pro-democracy demonstrations that started in June grew increasingly violent, plunging the city into recession. Interest from Hong Kong residents in leaving the city has spiked since then, Bloomberg News reported last August.

BLOOMBERG