A Paradigm Shift Towards a Green and Sustainable Finance Center

12 An Inventory of Hong Kong’s Recent Economic Fluctuations Figure 3: Changes in Visitor Arrivals (Source: Based on data from the Census and Statics Department of Hong Kong) Changes in imports and exports, as well as in visitor numbers are reflected in the changes in employed persons by industry. The total employed persons in import/ export trade and wholesale started to decrease in the middle of 2018 (Figure 4). By the middle of 2020, the declining trend slowed down but did not stop. The total number of employed people in this industry used to be on the same level with those employed in transportation, storage, postal and courier services, information and communications. By the end of 2023, the gap between these two groups was close to 111 thousand persons. Employed people in retail, accommodation and food services started to decrease rapidly since 2019. By the end of 2023, employed persons in this industry dropped by 107 thousand. The overall declining trend is similar to that of import/ export trade and wholesale. On the other hand, the unemployment rate rose to a historic high in 2020. The rapid rise started in 2019 and reached its 15-year highest level of 6.8% in the 1 st quarter of 2021. However, the rate finally started to decline in the 2 nd quarter of 2021 and fell just below 3.0% in 2023. It is hoped that the unemployment rate can maintain this level in 2024. 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 - 39,000 34,000 29,000 24,000 19,000 14,000 9,000 4,000 -1,000 Number of visitor arrivals (million) Year-on-year % change Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2018 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2019 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2020 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2021 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2022 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2023 Q1 2024 Mainland China Except Mainland China Year-on-year % change in mainland tourists (right axis)