Hong Kong population drops for 3rd year under COVID shadow

By KANIS LEUNG
Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s government has announced that the territory’s population dropped for a third straight year as deaths rose during the pandemic and anti-virus measures restricted the number of arriving workers. It did not mention an ongoing exodus of residents sparked by a crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. The Census and Statistics Department says the city’s population declined 0.9% to 7.3 million at the end of 2022 from a year earlier. It says there was a slight rebound in inflows near the end of last after officials gradually relaxed anti-virus controls. It says the population decline in the second half of 2022 was smaller than during the first half of the year.