Hong Kong’s trade deficit widened to $71.2 billion in August 2026, up from $25.4 billion in the same month a year earlier. This was the largest shortfall since March, driven by a surge in imports, which jumped 60% year-on-year to a record $739.1 billion.
The import increase was led mainly by electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof (up 64.5%), as well as telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (up 50.4%). By origin, imports were particularly strong from Mainland China (up 54.1%) and South Korea (up 265.8%).
Exports also recorded robust growth, rising 53% year-on-year to $667.9 billion. The increase was driven by higher shipments of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof (up 62.6%), and office machines and automatic data processing machines (up 131%).
Geographically, exports to Asia rose 59.2%, while deliveries to other key markets such as Mexico (up 68.8%) and the United States (up 64.2%) also posted strong gains.
Over the first eight months of 2026, Hong Kong’s cumulative trade deficit reached $371.2 billion.
