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Govt: HK 1Q Econ Growth at 5.9%; Full-yr Growth Forecast Kept at 2.5-3.5%
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The Government released today (15 May 2026) the First Quarter Economic Report 2026, together with the revised figures on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2026. The Government Economist, Irina Fan, gave an account of the economic performance in the first quarter of 2026 and the latest GDP and price forecasts for the full year. The Hong Kong economy expanded robustly in the first quarter of 2026, driven by sustained strong performance in external trade and a pick-up in domestic demand. Real GDP grew by 5.9% year-on-year in the first quarter, accelerating from the 4% growth recorded in the preceding quarter. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, real GDP rose notably by 2.9%. Total exports of goods grew markedly by 23.7% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter, underpinned by sustained global demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related electronic products and buoyant regional trade flows in Asia. Exports of services continued to expand solidly by 3.5% in real terms over a year earlier, with broad-based growth across all major service groups. Domestic demand strengthened across both consumption and investment. Private consumption expenditure saw accelerated growth of 4.9% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter, reflecting a more entrenched recovery in household spending. Overall investment expenditure continued to expand at a double-digit rate of 17.7% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter. The labour market showed modest improvement in the first quarter. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down further by 0.1 percentage point from the preceding quarter to 3.7% in the first quarter. The underemployment rate also decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 1.6%. Average employment earnings continued to record year-on-year growth in the first quarter. The local stock market saw varying monthly performance during the first quarter. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) rallied to a four-and-a-half-year high of nearly 28,000 in January, moved sideways in February, and corrected in March after the Middle East conflict. Trading and fund-raising activities remained strong throughout the quarter. More recently, since entering the second quarter, the HSI has largely recovered the earlier lost ground and returned to pre-conflict levels. Separately, the residential property market continued to strengthen in the first quarter, with both prices and rentals recording further increases. AASTOCKS Financial News |
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