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Hong Kong government’s land revenue fell to HK$88.7 billion in 2019-20, lowest level in five years

  • Last year’s figure represented a 37.4 per cent drop from the year before, and was lowest since 2015-16, when only HK$60.9 billion in land revenue was collected
  • One analyst says drop was largely a result of policy change in 2018 to set aside fewer plots for sale to private sector in favour of prioritising public housing

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Government revenue from the sale of public land fell precipitously last year. Photo: Felix Wong

The Hong Kong government collected just HK$88.7 billion (US$11.4 billion) last year in land premium revenue, the least it has received in five years, new figures show.

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The revenue – which mostly comes from the sale of government land, modifications to existing leases and other fees – accounted for only 16.3 per cent of total inflows into government coffers in the 2020-21 financial year. It was still the second largest source of government income, however, behind profits tax, which accounted for almost a quarter of total revenue.

According to a written reply to a Legislative Council question on Wednesday, land premium revenues in the previous four financial years never fell below HK$116.8 billion. They hit a five-year high in 2017-18 of HK$164.8 billion.

But last year’s figure represented a 37.4 per cent drop from the HK$141.7 billion collected the year before. It was also the lowest since 2015-16, when only HK$60.9 billion in land revenue was collected.

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Lau Chun-kong, chairman of the Institute of Surveyors’ land policy panel, said the drop was largely a result of a policy change in 2018 to set aside fewer plots for sale to the private sector in favour of prioritising public housing.

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“Land premiums will naturally fall because there is less land available for the private sector,” he said, adding that the drop in revenue was a signal to the government to increase land supply and sell off sites without delay. 

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