In his New Year’s message, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu wrapped up 2024 with a good deal of self-congratulatory pats on the back for his team. He rang in the new year with a very positive outlook, announcing that “Hong Kong has recovered from the pandemic and successfully restored its economic vitality.”
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Evidently the Hang Seng Index disagrees. The index fell 2.2 per cent on the first trading day of 2025, closing below 20,000 points. Remember that it closed at more than 28,000 on the last day of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic shook the world.
We can all do maths, so no, we have not recovered from the pandemic yet. Look around the city’s streets and see the empty shops; it is clear we have not recovered our previous economic vitality. This is most apparent in our retail sector, where provisional estimates released last week showed November retail sales fell by 7.3 per cent year on year, dropping for a ninth consecutive month.
Hong Kong box office revenue fell to a 13-year low of HK$1.34 billion (US$172.2 million) last year, a 6.2 per cent drop compared to 2023. Home prices have fallen 6.55 per cent even after the removal of government cooling measures earlier this year.
But enough talk of downers, what about things that are looking up for 2025? There are our electricity bills (up by about 1 per cent), bus fares (increased by up to 7.5 per cent), public housing rent (up 10 per cent), parking fees at Housing Authority car parks and even prices at McDonald’s. Travellers will pay more for airport security fees. Students sitting the Diploma of Secondary Education examination will pay more. Water bills are expected to rise, too.
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So Lee is correct to say Hongkongers will need to acclimatise to change. We will have to, given the increased cost of living. At this rate, 2025 will be another challenging year, especially for the underprivileged.
