Hong Kong employees received an average pay rise of 2.7 per cent this year, the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic, as companies balanced staff retention with an uncertain operating environment influenced by geopolitics, an industry body revealed on Tuesday.
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The study, conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM), also forecast that salaries could increase by an average of 3.5 per cent next year, with most employers still undecided about whether to raise wages.
Gathering data from 167 companies in Hong Kong between January and September, the institute found that the average salary growth was 2.7 per cent, a 0.5 percentage point decrease compared with last year.
“The figure of 2.7 per cent is a fairly low increase level since the pandemic. I believe that in 2024 everyone was under pressure in terms of manpower supply, so everyone hopes to raise salaries further to attract, fight for and retain talent,” said Lawrence Hung Yu-yun, the institute’s former president and member of its executive council.
“In 2025, everyone knows that due to international relations and geopolitics, there are some fluctuations in the economy. In this uncertain environment, I think that firms would have to balance operational factors or the operational environment; they would also have to think about how to deal with their manpower establishment or talent retention, where they would have to find a balance.”
According to past survey data from the institute, this was the lowest pay rise since they recorded an average increase of 1 per cent in 2021.
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