Hong Kong’s population rose slightly by 0.3 per cent year on year to more than 7.5 million by mid-2026 but the number of babies born fell by 15.6 per cent to below 30,000 for the first time on record, despite government incentives to boost the birth rate.

The government on Tuesday attributed the slight population increase to “various measures for talent attraction and labour importation” that continued to bring people from around the world to Hong Kong, which offset the impact of natural population decline.

But the statement did not address the steep drop in births.

Provisional data released by the Census and Statistics Department (CSD) on Tuesday showed that Hong Kong’s midyear population provisionally stood at 7,518,300, an increase of 19,400, or 0.3 per cent, compared with the same period last year.

Hong Kong’s population had fallen to 7,498,900 by mid-2025, marking the first time the city’s midyear population had dropped below 7.5 million since 2023.

Between mid-2025 and mid-2026, Hong Kong recorded 29,700 births, down 15.6 per cent from the 35,200 recorded during the same period a year earlier.

It was the first time since official records began in 1962 that the city recorded fewer than 30,000 births in its midyear population update. The previous midyear low was 32,600 births in 2023.