| Financial services, trading and logistics, tourism, and producer and professional services are the Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong economy. They have been the driving force of Hong Kong's economic growth, providing impetus to growth of other sectors and creating employment.
Financial services cover a wide range of services including banking, insurance, stock brokerage, asset management, and other financial services. Logistics refers to the process of planning, implementing and controlling the movement and storage of goods (including raw materials, goods in progress and finished goods), services and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption. The activities include freight transport, freight forwarding, storage, postal and courier services. Trading firms are closely associated with logistics activities. For analytical purposes, statistics on the economic contribution and employment situation of trading services are presented together with those in respect of logistics services. Tourism covers inbound tourism and outbound tourism. Inbound tourism covers retail trade, accommodation services (mainly cover hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses and other establishments providing short term accommodation), food and beverage services, other personal services, passenger transport services and travel agency, reservation service and related activities, yet pertaining only to that segment of services provided to visitors to Hong Kong. Outbound tourism covers cross-boundary passenger transport services and travel agency, reservation service and related activities, yet pertaining only to that segment of services provided to Hong Kong residents travelling abroad. Professional services cover legal, accounting, auditing, architecture and engineering activities, technical testing and analysis, scientific research and development, management and management consultancy activities, information technology related services, advertising, specialised design and related services, etc. Producer services refer to services for use by other companies (i.e. intermediate consumption) in the local economy, as well as exports of services to companies and individuals. To avoid overlapping of economic activities in the Four Key Industries, statistics of "other producer services" are compiled. "Other producer services" refer to producer services other than those covered in the key industries of financial services, trading and logistics, tourism and professional services. Value added and the employment in respect of the Four Key Industries
As regards the method of compiling the value added and the employment figures of the Four Key Industries, please refer to the feature article "The Situation of the Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy in 2010" published in the February 2012 issue of the Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics. |
