Hong Kong's Economy Swung Back to Growth in 2021

By Ronnie Harui

Hong Kong's economy grew 6.4% in 2021, reversing two years of contractions as the recovery sustained its pace in the fourth quarter thanks to robust exports and improved private consumption.

Gross domestic product grew 4.8% in the fourth quarter in real terms from a year earlier, according to advance estimates released by the government on Friday.

However, the economy slowed from a revised 5.5% expansion in the third quarter in part due to reduced growth in both private and government consumption expenditure.

By major GDP component, private consumption expenditure increased by 6.0% in real terms in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, while government consumption expenditure grew 4.1%.

The economy is expected to expand further in 2022, but the pace will be subject to various uncertainties, especially those relating to Covid, a government spokesman said.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, the city's GDP grew 0.2% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2021, when compared with the third quarter, the data showed.

Write to Ronnie Harui at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-28-22 0419ET