According to the family planning association of Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s low birth rate has been a long-standing challenge. Furthermore, Hong Kong saw a negative natural population growth for the first time in 2020 and its total fertility rate dropped to 701 live births per 1000 women in 2022, ranking among countries/regions with the lowest birth rates in the world.

From the data, we can see that the birth population of different genders in Hong Kong reached the peak in 2011. In 2011, the male birth population in Hong Kong was 51,286 and the female birth population was 44,165. During the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), the number of births in Hong Kong continued to decline. Starting from 2023, the number of births has increased. According to SCMP, the number of babies born in Hong Kong reached about 36,700 last year, an 11 per cent jump from 2023, following the introduction of a government scheme that gives parents a HK$20,000 (US$2,570) cash handout for each newborn.