Hong Kong to exempt 90% of households from ‘re-engineered’ 2026 census

Hong Kong authorities will exempt 90 per cent of households from a population census next year, opting instead for a “re-engineered” model that uses existing data to track the city’s demographics – a major break from decades of statistical tradition.

Commissioner for Census and Statistics Leo Yu Chun-keung said on Friday that the 2026 population census had been revamped to improve workflow.

“To modernise the mode of Hong Kong’s population census, we will implement several re-engineering initiatives with a view to streamlining and improving workflows,” he said.

Under the new framework, the Census and Statistics Department will use administrative data, ranging from immigration entry permits to birth records, to calculate population benchmarks, effectively rendering the traditional manual headcount obsolete for most residents.

Active surveying will be strictly limited to a random sample of just 10 per cent of households.

“The remaining 90 per cent of households will not be required to fill out any questionnaire,” Yu said, signalling the end of the “short form” survey that previously covered the bulk of the population.