| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong-born residents 123,411 (excluding Scotland) (2021 census) ~270,000 (2024) [1] | |
| Languages | |
| English (British English, Hong Kong English), Hong Kong Cantonese, Hong Kong Hakka | |
| Religion | |
| Atheism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| British Chinese, Britons in Hong Kong |
| Part of a series on |
| British people |
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| Oceanian |
Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom (also known as Hong Kong Britons) are people from Hong Kong who are residing in the United Kingdom or British nationals of Hong Kong origin or descent.
The United Kingdom has historically been a popular destination for Hong Kong immigrants due to the colonial relationship between the two territories. [2] The British Nationality Act 1948 allowed Hong Kong-born residents to move to the UK free of restriction. The UK's popularity among immigrants was also helped by the fact that the English language enjoys official status in both territories.[ citation needed ] While many Hong Kong-born residents of the UK are ethnically Boat Dwellers and Chinese, others include the children of colonial parentage (British and/or other European heritage, and people with ancestries from other parts of the former British colonial empire) born in Hong Kong prior to the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997. [3]
In July 2020, following the implementation of new security laws in Hong Kong by China, the UK offered a path to residency for British Nationals (Overseas) in Hong Kong. [4] In the first year of the policy 103,900 people applied for the visa, which had almost doubled to 191,000 by January 2024. [5] [1] By the end of the program's second year over 150,000 of the applications had been granted, an indication that most of those who applied were eventually accepted. [6]
The 2001 census recorded 96,445 Hong Kong-born people residing in the United Kingdom. [7] The 2011 census recorded 98,724 Hong Kong-born people resident in England, 3,517 in Wales, [8] 7,586 in Scotland [9] and 1,906 in Northern Ireland. [10] The figure Scotland was 7,068 in 2001 and 5,910 in 1991. [11] [12] The 2021 census recorded 117,714 Hong Kong-born people resident in England, 3,715 in Wales and 1,982 in Northern Ireland. [13] [14] It is worth noting that the 2021 census was conducted less than two months after the implementation of the new BN(O) visa program, meaning few if any of its beneficiaries are included in it. [15] However, estimates provided in early 2024 suggest that over 140,000 Hongkongers have moved to the UK since the start of 2021, more than doubling the size of the community. [1]
Hong Kongers who migrated to the UK under the BN(O) pathway introduced in 2020 are generally older and higher-educated than other immigrants to the UK. According to The Economist , reasons for this demographic include the fact that only people born before 1997 are eligible for British National (Overseas) status, and that families with children are particularly eager to emigrate from Hong Kong following the introduction of the territory's national security law. [16]
Hong Kong migrants under the BN(O) pathway have created several self-help organisations, including Hongkongers in Britain and the Sutton Hongkongers Group, to support and advocate for each other since the BN(O) path to residency was introduced in 2020. Many of these organisations were set up because many new Hong Kong migrants are afraid of Chinese community groups which are aligned with the government of Communist China. [16]
Demographic features of the population of Hong Kong include population density, ethnicity, education level, the health of the populace, religious affiliations, and other aspects.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration was a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after 1 July 1997.
British Chinese, also known as Chinese British or Chinese Britons, are people of Chinese – particularly Han Chinese – ancestry who reside in the United Kingdom, constituting the second-largest group of Overseas Chinese in Western Europe after France.
British National (Overseas), abbreviated BN(O), is a class of British nationality associated with the former colony of Hong Kong. The status was acquired through voluntary registration by individuals with a connection to the territory who had been British Dependent Territories citizens (BDTCs) before the handover to China in 1997. Registration for BN(O) status was limited to the 10-year period preceding the transfer as a transitional arrangement for former BDTCs; current residents cannot newly acquire this nationality.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Passport is a passport issued only to permanent residents of Hong Kong who also hold Chinese citizenship. In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, since the handover in 1997, the passport has been issued by the Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong under the authorisation of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. As the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, the passport is printed bilingually in both Chinese and English. In addition, unlike Chinese passport which can be issued by Chinese diplomatic missions abroad, the Immigration Department of Hong Kong is the only issuing authority for HKSAR passports.
British nationality law as it pertains to Hong Kong has been unusual ever since Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842. From its beginning as a sparsely populated trading port to today's cosmopolitan international financial centre and world city of over seven million people, the territory has attracted refugees, immigrants and expatriates alike searching for a new life.
Britons never made up more than a small portion of the population in Hong Kong, despite Hong Kong having been under British rule for more than 150 years. However, they did leave their mark on Hong Kong's institutions, culture and architecture. The British population in Hong Kong today consists mainly of career expatriates working in banking, education, real estate, law and consultancy, as well as many British-born ethnic Chinese, former Chinese émigrés to the UK and Hong Kongers who successfully applied for full British citizenship before the transfer of sovereignty in 1997.
The Australian diaspora are those Australians living outside of Australia. It includes approximately 598,765 Australian-born people living outside of Australia, people who are Australian citizens and live outside Australia, and people with Australian ancestry who live outside of Australia.
A Hong Kong returnee is a resident of Hong Kong who emigrated to another country, lived for an extended period of time in his or her adopted home, and then subsequently moved back to Hong Kong.
Emigration from Hong Kong refers to the migration of Hong Kong residents away from Hong Kong. Reasons for migration range from livelihood hardships, such as the high cost of living and educational pressures, to economic opportunities elsewhere, such as expanded opportunities in mainland China following the Reform and Opening-Up, to various political events, such as the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong during the Second World War, the 1967 unrest, uncertainties leading up to the 1997 handover, and the 2019–2020 unrest. The largest community of Hong Kongers living outside of Hong Kong is in Mainland China, followed by the US, Canada and the UK.
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Australian. Australian law does not provide for a racial or ethnic component of nationality, instead relying on citizenship as a legal status.
East Asians in the United Kingdom are East Asians living in the United Kingdom. They have been present in the country since the 17th century and primarily originate from countries such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. They are called "East Asian" or "Oriental", although – dependent upon the context – the use of the term "Oriental" might be considered by some to be derogatory or offensive. In the 2001 British census, the term Chinese or Other is used.
Koreans in the United Kingdom include Korean-born migrants to the United Kingdom and their British-born descendants tracing ancestries from North Korea and South Korea.
The British diaspora consists of people of English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish, Manx and Channel Islands ancestral descent who live outside of the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies.
Hongkongers, Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people are demonyms that refer to the resident of Hong Kong, although they may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the territory.
Hong Kong Canadians are Canadians who were born or raised in Hong Kong, hold permanent residency in Hong Kong, or trace their ancestry back to Hong Kong. In Canada, the majority of Hong Kong Canadians reside in the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver. Many Hong Kong Canadians continue to maintain their status as Hong Kong permanent residents.
The British National (Overseas) passport, commonly referred to as the BN(O) passport, is a British passport for people with British National (Overseas) status. BN(O) status was created in 1987 after the enactment of Hong Kong Act 1985, whose holders are permanent residents of Hong Kong who were British Overseas Territories citizens until 30 June 1997 and had registered as BN(O)s.
Hong Kong Americans, include Americans who are also Hong Kong residents who identify themselves as Hong Kongers, Americans of Hong Kong ancestry, and also Americans who have Hong Kong parents.
Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations are the international relations between the post-colonial Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Hong Kong was a British colony from 1841 to 1941 and again from 1945 to 1997 when sovereignty was handed over to China. UK policy towards Hong Kong is underpinned by its substantial commercial interests, and fulfilling obligation as the other signatory of Sino–British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong, in addition to support Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, and in accordance with China's policy of observing "one country, two systems". Hong Kong is also home to roughly 2.9 million British nationals, 350,000 of which hold an active British passport, giving it one of the largest populations of British passport holders in the world behind only the Anglosphere Commonwealth realms and the United States.
In 2020, 29.1% of the Australian resident population, or 7,502,000 people, were born overseas.
