The government's plan to cut 10,000 civil service positions over two years may not translate into substantial manpower savings, according to a research brief released by the Legislative Council Secretariat on Thursday.

According to the report, the size of the civil service establishment exceeded the actual number of workers employed by 18,900 last year.

"Coupled with a vacancy rate in civil service of around 10 percent right now, most of the 10,000 posts would not have been filled anyway, with or without the post deletion policy," the report read.

Researchers also examined the civil service pay freeze for the upcoming fiscal year. They projected potential savings of HK$8.7 billion, assuming a 3 percent market wage increase.

Comparing Hong Kong with other advanced economies in the Asia-Pacific region, the brief noted that civil servants made up 4.7 percent of the local workforce in 2023, higher than Singapore's 3.7 percent, and 4.2 percent for South Korea.

The report also concluded the HK$2 fare concessionary scheme for the elderly remains competitive, even after putting a cap on the number of trips and changing the formula for long-haul journeys.

It compared the measure to similar schemes in 12 other cities worldwide, and noted only London, Paris, Guangzhou and Singapore offer concessionary fares for commuters between 60 and 64.

But the secretariat conceded the proposed tweaks will bring insignificant relief to public coffers, estimating savings of only HK$680 million each year.