580,000 applicants, 270,000 new residents in three years: Why global talent are choosing Hong Kong
The Straits Times
Discover why Hong Kong is attracting global talent with its progressive policies, rising global rankings, and business ecosystem. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Hong Kong has successfully attracted about 580,000 applicants to join its talent admission schemes in just the past three years, with some 270,000 people settling in the city. The total including their family members is higher.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the Government of the HKSAR, Chris Sun, says the heartening response reflects the city’s attractiveness. “We are making quite a significant improvement over the past three years. Hong Kong remains a leading city in terms of the number of graduates in sciences, our financing skills, our education in management and all the professionals – which added to these very, very strong basic foundations.”
In the IMD World Talent Ranking 2025, Hong Kong jumped to fourth place globally and came in first in Asia, marking its highest-ever position and a significant rise from ninth globally in 2024.
The IMD ranking highlights Hong Kong’s improved appeal, readiness, and investment in talent, and is placed first worldwide for its proportion of science graduates.
Says Mr Sun: “It is owing to our very open, proactive policies in attracting and retaining talents into Hong Kong.”
Such policies include the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS), introduced in late 2022, which is a talent recruitment measure that focuses on high-income individuals and high calibre graduates from the world’s top 100 universities, with enhancements to various existing admission schemes.
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