The Household Expenditure Survey (HES) is conducted once every 5 years by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) to collect up-to-date information on the expenditure patterns of households in Hong Kong. The survey results serve as an important data source for updating the expenditure weights of the Consumer Price Index, and can also be used to study the consumption behaviour of households in Hong Kong.
The latest round of the HES was completed in 2024/25. Its major results were released on 9 June 2026.
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.
Report on 2024/25 Household Expenditure Survey is now available for browsing and downloading from the website of the C&SD (https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1060003&scode=290). For more statistics on household expenditures, please visit https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/scode290.html.
For enquiries about the results of the 2024/25 HES, please contact the Price Research and Analytics Section (2) of the C&SD at telephone number 3903 7384 or email address hes@censtatd.gov.hk.