The latest round of the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) was completed in 2024/25 to collect up-to-date information on the expenditure patterns of households in Hong Kong. This information is an important input for updating the expenditure weights of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) conducts an HES once every 5 years. Each round of the survey is conducted for a whole year in order to take into account seasonal variations in household expenditure patterns throughout different periods of the year.
A sample of living quarters was selected for the survey under a scientifically designed sampling scheme. The one-year survey reference period from October 2024 to September 2025 was divided into 26 bi-weekly cycles, and each sampled household took part in only one cycle. The questionnaire used in the HES was designed mainly in the form of an expenditure diary. Each household member needed to record his/her daily expenditures in the diary, as well as provide information on regular payments and expenditures on infrequent purchases.
Prior to the conduct of the survey, a pre-test was carried out from May to July 2024 to test the survey design, workflows, and various aspects of survey operations.
About 3 weeks before the commencement of each survey cycle, notification letters were sent to the sampled living quarters to invite the households therein to participate in the survey. The households could:
The 2024/25 HES was conducted under Part IIIA of the Census and Statistics Ordinance (Cap. 316). Data collected in the survey regarding individual persons and households are kept in strict confidence and will not be released to any unauthorised parties, including Government departments. Such data are only used for compiling aggregate statistics from which particulars of individual households cannot be identified.
The major results of the 2024/25 HES are expected to be released in mid-2026. For statistics on household expenditures, please visit https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/scode290.html.
For enquiries about the 2024/25 HES, please contact the Household Expenditure Survey Section of the C&SD at telephone number 2551 6500 or email address hesurvey@censtatd.gov.hk.