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General Employment Policy

Admission scheme · Hong Kong

Applications approved, 2025
31,278
Change on a year earlier
-10.8%
Largest sector
Others
Its share
48.5%
Approved31,2782025
Year by year
Data as at 2025
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Applications approved by year

Professionals from outside the Chinese Mainland admitted to work for an employer in Hong Kong under the General Employment Policy.

Applications approved

21k42k2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
21k42k201620182020202220242025
Data table
201635,997
201739,952
201841,592
201941,289
202014,617
202113,821
202213,495
202326,270
202435,058
202531,278
Approved, 2025
31,278
Change on a year earlier
-10.8%
Highest year
2018 (41,592)
Source: Immigration Department, Hong Kong SAR Government — statistics published on DATA.GOV.HK (free for commercial and non-commercial use)Data as at 2025

By industry sector

Applications approved by sector of the employing organisation, 2016–2025.

Approved, 2025
  1. Others15,164
  2. Recreation and sports4,517
  3. Arts/culture3,364
  4. Academic research and education2,670
  5. Financial services2,343
  6. Commerce and trade1,499
  7. Engineering and construction1,180
  8. Information technology416
  9. Legal services125
YearAcademic research and educationArts/cultureCommerce and tradeEngineering and constructionFinancial servicesInformation technologyLegal servicesRecreation and sportsOthersTotal
20252,6703,3641,4991,1802,3434161254,51715,16431,278
20242,5512,6721,8111,4322,0053161201,86922,28235,058
20232,7702,7482,4401,5592,0015761681,45112,55726,270
20222,1242351,5301,2412,4585401438824,34213,495
20211,9281332,0881,4332,5695851819823,92213,821
20202,1585562,3251,0852,4486521741,1894,03014,617
20194,6705,4175,8341,5674,7191,6554866,53410,40741,289
20184,9613,4397,5111,1875,0571,3814645,18012,41241,592
20174,7663,1713,4451,6314,4411,3234365,29215,44739,952
20164,4694,4363,9211,8704,1481,6824935,6059,37335,997
Source: Immigration Department, Hong Kong SAR Government — statistics published on DATA.GOV.HK (free for commercial and non-commercial use)Data as at 2025

Official data, not advice. Visa Atlas publishes figures from government registers and statistics. It does not assess eligibility or give immigration advice; for advice, consult a regulated adviser. Read more