Hong Kong's privacy watchdog on Thursday said the number of data breach incidents in the city increased by 30 percent last year.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data received more than 200 data breach reports last year, in which 30 percent of them involved hacking and 25 percent involved the loss of documents or portable devices.

Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung said the value of personal data has increased with the rapid development of digitalisation, and she expects the trend to continue.

The office conducted a review of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance and made suggestions which included the mandatory notification of data breaches, a complete review of the penalty levels outlined in the ordinance and also empowering the Privacy Commissioner to hand down administrative fines.

On the level of penalty administered, Chung said her office would take Hong Kong's economic situation into account and make reference to similar legislation in other jurisdictions.

"In the process of consultation, we have received feedback saying that, for example, small and medium enterprises, they are concerned about the effect of all these penalties on their business environment and their compliance costs," she said.

"I believe that the government and my office would take all these concerns into account in formulating the concrete details."