HK economy grows 6.4% in 2021

The growth reversed the declines of the previous two years.

Hong Kong's economy in the fourth quarter of 2021 grew 4.8% year-on-year (YoY) and rose 6.4% for 2021 as a whole, reversing the declines in the previous two years.

The Census & Statistics Department announced the figures of the advance estimates on the gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2021.

Commenting on the figures, the government said Hong Kong's economy had recovered further in the fourth quarter of 2021 because of the robust export performance and improved private consumption.

Here are the highlights of the advance estimates:

• Private consumption expenditure increased 6% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2021 over a year earlier and rose 5.7% for the whole year.
• Government consumption expenditure climbed 4.1% year on year and grew 4.6% for 2021 as a whole.
• Gross domestic fixed capital formation increased marginally by 0.1% year-on-year but expanded 10.1% in the whole of 2021.
• Over the same period, total goods exports and imports surged 13.3% and 9.7% from a year earlier. By 2021, total goods exports and imports grew 19% and 17.5%.
• Compared with a year earlier, exports of services increased 5.7% for the fourth quarter while imports went up 5.2%. For 2021 in full, exports and imports of services rose 0.8% and 1.9%.