Hong Kong parents and concern groups have urged authorities to reinstate student subsidies after textbook prices recorded their sharpest increase since the Covid-19 pandemic, amid the growing use of digital learning tools.

Prices for a list of textbooks now range from HK$4,000 (US$510) to HK$6,000, representing an average increase of 3.6 per cent for the 2026-27 academic year, the highest since the pandemic began in 2020, according to Education Bureau book list data.

During the pandemic, prices barely rose, averaging 0.1 per cent growth, after the bureau asked publishers to freeze increases to ease financial pressure on families.

In 2020-21, prices of more than 90 per cent of titles were frozen, but the practice has since been wound down and the ratio has now declined to 20 per cent in 2026-27, the lowest on record.

Yeung Chi-lin, assistant general manager at major textbook retailer T.H. Lee Book Company, said the growing shift towards digital teaching materials had squeezed print runs and driven up book prices.

“The publishing business is getting harder to run. More schools are switching to digital materials, and not to mention that more parents are buying second-hand books,” he said.