Hong Kong Economy 2001

Economy - overview: Hong Kong has a bustling free market economy highly dependent on international trade. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Indeed, imports and exports, including reexports, each exceed GDP in dollar value. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997 it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Per capita GDP compares with the level in the four big countries of Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5% in 1989-97. The widespread Asian economic difficulties in 1998 hit this trade-dependent economy quite hard, with GDP down 5%. The economy is undergoing a rapid recovery, with growth of 10% in 2000 to be followed by projected growth of 5% in 2001.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $181 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 10% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $25,400 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 0.1%
industry: 14.3%
services: 85.6% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.7% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 3.39 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 31.5%, community and social services 24%, financing, insurance, and real estate 14.5%, transport and communications 11.6%, manufacturing 7.7%, construction 2.6% (October 1999)

Unemployment rate: 4.5% (2000 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $20.8 billion
expenditures: $24.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00)

Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks

Industrial production growth rate: 2.1% (2000)

Electricity - production: 27.726 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 32.202 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 633 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 7.05 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: fresh vegetables; poultry

Exports: $204 billion (including reexports; f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: clothing, textiles, footwear, electrical appliances, watches and clocks, toys

Exports - partners: China 33%, US 24%, Japan 5%, UK 4%, Germany, Singapore (1999)

Imports: $215 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials, semimanufactures, petroleum; a large share is reexported

Imports - partners: China 44%, Japan 12%, US 7%, Taiwan 7%, South Korea, Singapore (1999)

Debt - external: $48.1 billion (1999)

Currency: Hong Kong dollar (HKD)

Currency code: HKD

Exchange rates: Hong Kong dollars per US dollar - 7.7990 (January 2001), 7.7912 (2000), 7.7575 (1999), 7.7453 (1998), 7.7421 (1997), 7.7343 (1996); note - Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China on 1 July 1997; before then, the Hong Kong dollar was linked to the US dollar at the rate of about 7.8 Hong Kong dollars per US dollar

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

NOTE: The information regarding Hong Kong on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Hong Kong Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Hong Kong Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.