Hong Kong Drain of Professionals Is Gaining Speed

Hong Kong’s brain drain of people seeking the security of foreign passports and new ways of life abroad, before the colony reverts to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, is expected to rise by about 30% from 42,000 this year to 55,000 next year.

Recent events in China have seriously affected the confidence of Hong Kong people in the territory’s freedom and prosperity after 1997. Thousands who said they had not previously planned to leave have approached local foreign consulates about possible emigration.

Pressure has also increased on the United Kingdom to provide more than 3 million people with the security of full British passports, which would boost confidence and could stem the brain drain. The United Kingdom government is expected to announce in the next few weeks how many passports it is prepared to issue, but the number will be far less than 3 million.

Was Much Lower

The outflow of people will have a serious impact on Hong Kong’s businesses, which have managed so far to cope with the loss of mostly younger professional and skilled workers.

New estimates released last week by the Hong Kong government show that last year’s total of 45,800 is expected to drop to a previously forecast level of 42,000 this year because there has not been enough time since the Beijing crisis for people to organize residence abroad.

The total is then expected to rise to 55,000 in 1990. In the early and mid-1980s, the annual figure hovered around 20,000. About 90% of the total go to Canada, Australia and the United States. This proportion is not expected to change rapidly, despite recruiting efforts made recently by other countries, notably Singapore.

Michael Rowse, the official in charge of preparing the statistics, said last week that a new “equilibrium of around 55,000 to 60,000” was likely to be established.

About 24% of the total emigrants are classified as professional, technical, administrative and managerial workers, who only make up 5.5% of the total population.