Hong Kong Balance of Trade

Last Release

Sep 30, 2024

Actual

-53,204

Units In

HKD Million

-33,131

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Nov 26, 2024

Time to Release

27 Days 8 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
7,228 Jan 2009	-68,533 Jun 2022	-9,749.08 HKD Million	1952-2024	N/A

Since the late 1990’s Hong Kong has been recording trade deficits, as imports grew at a faster pace than exports. Hong Kong major exports are electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances; telecommunications and sound equipment and automatic data processing machines. The country imports mainly machinery and transport equipment; miscellaneous manufactured articles; manufactured goods and food and live animals. Main trading partner is China (40 percent of total exports and 47 percent of total imports). Others include: Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States.

Latest Updates

Hong Kong's trade deficit decreased to $53.2 billion in September 2024 from $64.6 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year. Exports climbed 4.7% from a year earlier to a two-year high of $398.1 billion, primarily driven by higher sales of office machines and automatic data processing machines (52.8%), power generating machinery and equipment (19.4%), and non-ferrous metals (4.2%). Meanwhile, imports rose at a softer 1.4% year-on-year to over two-year high of $451.3 billion, driven by increased purchases of office machines and automatic data processing machines (65.4%), power generating machinery and equipment (27.8%), and professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus (17.5%). Considering the first nine months of the year, the country’s trade deficit was $270 billion, with exports increasing by 10.7% and imports growing by 7.1% compared to the same period a year earlier.