Hong Kong authorities have questioned a World Bank report giving the city lower grades for business readiness, saying outdated data has led to unfair comparisons.
The digital policy office said early on Tuesday that Hong Kong remained among the top 20 for “operational efficiency” and in the second quintile for “regulatory framework” and “public services” in the World Bank Group’s Business Ready 2025 report.
“Some of the report’s assessment results, such as those for ‘international trade’, ‘financial services’ and ‘dispute resolution’, differ from the rankings and highly positive evaluations that many other international organisations have given Hong Kong,” the office spokesman said.
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“We note that the assessment methodology of the report may result in an outdated and unfair comparison.”
Citing “operational efficiency” as an example, the office said some data used to assess Hong Kong was collected shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic in 2023, while information for other economies was collected in 2024.
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The annual report, first published in 2024, offers a quantitative assessment of the business environment and aims to promote economic growth and eliminate poverty, according to the World Bank Group.