The Hong Kong government has given out more than HK$1.4 billion to parents with newborns since it implemented a cash handover scheme three years ago. Although it was aimed at increasing the city’s birth rate, last year there was a record low number of births.
Minister of Welfare, Chris Sun, in an article answer lawmaker Roy Chu said on Wednesday that HK$20,000 in bonuses had been distributed to 71,886 applicants. Parents of any children born after Newborn Baby Bonus scheme started are eligible for payment.
Of the 87,377 births registered since the scheme first came into effect in October 2023, there were 72,267 applications for the bonus. In addition to the cash reward, applicants also have priority for public housing and enjoy tax benefits.
The three-year programme, set to end this October, was implemented as part of Chief Executive John Lee’s 2023 Policy Address after the city recorded a record low birth rate.
Hong Kong saw 33,232 births in 2023, and 36,723 the following year. Last year, this figure fell to 31,072 registered births, according to the official census data – below the record low of 32,501 set in 2022.
The bonus scheme is currently under review, Sun said.
Housing, taxes
Under the priority allocation scheme for families with newborns, implemented about half a year after the initial cash distribution policy was proposed, about 7,400 eligible applicants for a public rental apartment had their waiting time reduced by a year.
Among them, 1,300 families were allocated an apartment in a public housing development.
And under a scheme that gives families with newborns priority to buy a government-subsidized apartment, more than 800 families successfully bought a house in 2024. In 2025, 4,000 of the 100,000 applications received were submitted under the priority scheme.
“Both schemes aim to reduce barriers arising from housing needs to childbirth, thus achieving the objective of encouraging fertility,” said Sun.
Considering the need to balance incentives for families and the “negative impact” a priority mechanism would have on other applicants, the government considered the current arrangements appropriate, he added.
According to official figures, 3,200 people with newborns who rent an apartment or pay a mortgage benefited from a higher tax deduction ceiling, while a tax break of HK$280,000 for having a child will come into effect in the 2026-27 assessment year.
Assisted Fertility Quotas
Alongside grants, tax breaks and priority “fertility promotion” schemes, Sun said the Hospital Authority was working to increase annual quotas for in-vitro fertilization from the current 1,100 to 1,800 over five years from 2024-25.
After additional quotas were secured at Kwong Wah Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital and Queen Mary Hospital, the total number of places available across the city will reach 1,600 in 2026-27.
