The Hong Kong government does not keep official statistics on how many people leave the city forever, but the data suggests that some form of exodus is taking place.
Although the pandemic has restricted international travel, an average of about 1,500 Hong Kongers leave through the airport every day in July, up from about 800 in the first half of the year.
In the past 12 months, early withdrawals from the city’s mandatory pension fund-which can only be withdrawn if someone leaves permanently-have also soared.
The Hong Kong government has repeatedly refused to leave, saying that many people will return one day and those who leave can be replaced by mainland Chinese.
Previously, before the handover to China in 1997 and after Beijing’s deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, a large number of Hong Kong residents had left.
However, the total population has not decreased, and many people have returned.
