Hong Kong's population expanded for the third consecutive year, albeit at a slower pace, to 7.534 million last year, an uptick of 6,400.

The 0.1 percent growth paled in comparison to the 0.7 percent increase in 2023, and one percent in 2022.

Meanwhile, the 36,700 births last year were outstripped by 51,400 deaths.

That was offset by a net positive movement of 21,000 SAR residents, which included 40,000 arrivals through one-way permits. Around 18,900 people migrated elsewhere.

A government spokesperson said that various talent attraction measures and labour importation schemes helped boost the city's population growth.

But Professor Paul Yip from the University of Hong Kong's Department of Social Work and Social Administration struck a cautious tone.

He said that the natural decrease of over 14,000 people remained a concern, alongside the city's ageing population.

"What we can see is that the ageing situation remains a very important issue and it will get worse in the coming years," he said.

Yip does not expect the trend to reverse any time soon, despite a 10 percent jump in the birth rate last year.

"In 2024, that was the dragon year. It is a year that tends to have a higher birth rate than before. But I think when we look at the historical figures, all the years after the dragon years, I think the birth rates reduced accordingly," he told RTHK.

The population expert urged the government to focus on improving people’s health and wellbeing, while encouraging enterprises to adopt technology to make work less labour intensive.