The Chief Secretary for Administration, Carrie Lam, who also serves as the chairperson of the committee, recently stated at a regional forum that there will be no population cap for Hong Kong.
Carrie Lam pointed out that Hong Kong's annual population growth rate is 0.6%, which is relatively low, thus it is necessary to rely on incoming population to provide labor. However, she added that policies will be adjusted in response to changes in social structure, and the government does not intend to allow the population to expand indefinitely.
With the impact of an aging population becoming increasingly evident, Hong Kong's labor force is expected to begin declining after 2018. The Population Policy Steering Committee published a consultation document on population policy last month and launched a four-month public engagement activity on population policy.
