A recent study conducted by a human resources consultancy has found that Hong Kong’s liveability ranking for Asian expats improved last year as Covid restrictions were lifted.

ECA's general manager for Asia, Mark Harrison, on Wednesday said the SAR’s global standing rose from 92 in 2022 to 77 last year.

He described the city as a "very attractive" location with excellent infrastructure, access to international travel, as well as quality goods and services.

However factors like typhoons, air pollution and socio-political tensions weighed on its rating, Harrison said.

"Hong Kong is still very attractive overall as a location and still ranks very highly amongst locations in Asia. If you compare it internationally, it's similar to a location like London and still ranks higher than locations like New York," he said.

Harrison said the SAR can improve its rating by adopting electric vehicles to alleviate air pollution.

"There's definitely room for improvement. Maybe it can't get back up to 17th place like it was in 2013, but I think we'd expect to see some improvements over the next few years, maybe five or 10 places. A lot of that is also dependent on what other locations do."

Singapore topped the list in 2023 – as it did in each of the last 10 years – while Tokyo, Adelaide and Wellington shared second place.