(To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Government today reported that Hong Kong's economy continued to expand solidly in the second quarter of 2025, with real gross domestic product (GDP) rising 3.1% year-on-year.

Acting Government Economist Cecilia Lam gave the figure as she presented the Half-yearly Economic Report 2025. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter basis, real GDP rose 0.4% in the second quarter.

Ms Lam highlighted that US trade policy continues to bring uncertainty to the global economy and global trade. However, resilient external demand, coupled with some rush shipments in response to temporary easing of tariff measures by the US, supported an acceleration in Hong Kong's total exports of goods, which saw a year-on-year real-terms increase of 11.5% in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, thanks to strong growth in inbound tourism, sustained expansion in cross-boundary traffic and vibrant financial sector activity, exports of services continued to expand significantly, up 7.5% over a year earlier.

Domestically, private consumption expenditure resumed moderate growth of 1.9% year on year following four consecutive quarters of contraction.

The labour market experienced some softening during the period, with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rising to 3.5%. Employment earnings grew solidly over a year earlier.

The residential property market showed some stabilisation during the quarter. Flat prices held broadly stable, and rentals stayed resilient.

Meanwhile, consumer price inflation stayed modest in the second quarter, with the underlying Composite Consumer Price Index (CCPI) rising 1.1% over a year earlier and the headline CCPI increasing 1.8% year on year.

The Hong Kong economy is expected to maintain growth for the rest of 2025, Ms Lam said.

“Steady economic growth in Asia, in particular the Mainland, together with the sustained increases in local employment earnings, the robust stock market, and the stabilisation of the residential property market will bode well for various sectors of the Hong Kong economy.

“The Government's various measures to boost consumption, attract investment and diversify markets will also provide further support to the Hong Kong economy.”

Taking into account the actual out-turn in the first half of this year and developments locally and globally, Hong Kong’s real GDP growth forecast for 2025 as a whole has been maintained at 2% to 3%.

As for the inflation outlook, as pressures from domestic costs and external prices are anticipated to stay broadly in check, overall inflation should remain modest in the near term. The forecasts for underlying and headline consumer price inflation rates this year remain at 1.5% and 1.8% respectively.