‘Hard to replace’: Hongkongers in their prime the biggest group lured by Britain’s bespoke BN(O) migrant scheme
- People in their 30s and 40s who left are a big loss of talent and babies too, population expert says
- About 48,600 children and teens under 18 migrated – ‘enough to axe 40 primary and 20 secondary schools’
Hongkongers in their prime were the largest proportion of 184,700 people who left for Britain under a bespoke migration pathway since 2021, leaving a population expert with concerns that the city has lost talent that will be hard to fully replace.
They took their school-going children with them, and many also had babies after settling in the United Kingdom, adding to the overall loss to Hong Kong.
“The middle-aged in their 30s and 40s, who took their kids, wealth and knowledge to the UK, still have 20 years or even more to contribute to the workforce. They are the backbone of a city’s development,” said Paul Yip Siu-fai, chair professor of population health at the University of Hong Kong.
About 44,000 Hongkongers in their 40s, born in the 1970s and early 1980s, made up the biggest group and accounted for one in four who left. Next were more than 30,000 people in their 30s.
