Hongkongers in England, Wales extend record birth numbers under BN(O) scheme

Hongkongers had 2,129 babies last year in England and Wales, even as birth numbers hit nearly 50-year low in their new homes

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Tower Bridge in London. High childcare costs present significant barriers to entering the workforce, according to a think tank’s report on Hongkongers settling in the UK. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:00am, 15 Dec 2024Updated: 6:40pm, 15 Dec 2024

Hongkongers in England and Wales had more than 2,120 babies last year, extending their record high figures since the introduction of a bespoke immigration pathway, while the overall birth numbers in the two places hit a nearly 50-year low.

But high childcare costs presented significant barriers to entering the workforce, particularly for women, according to a think tank’s report on Hongkongers settling in the United Kingdom.

“In 2023, there were 2,129 babies born in England and Wales, where at least one of the parents’ [place] of birth was Hong Kong,” the UK Home Office said in a reply to a freedom of information request the Post made last month.

The number of newborns with at least one parent from Hong Kong rose from 1,568 in 2019 to 1,602 in 2020, 1,665 in 2021 and 1,953 in 2022, according to Britain’s Office for National Statistics.

The 2023 figures, which were up by 9 per cent against the year before, were the highest since the British National (Overseas) visa scheme began in 2021.

Britain rolled out the immigration pathway after Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 to ban acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers following the anti-government protests in 2019.