Payments and e-commerce in Hong Kong

Discover how Hongkongers like to shop and pay online

Hong Kong

General Information

Population 7.7 m
Population 15 + 6.7 m
Online population 6.8 m
Area 1,106 km²
Currency HKD
GDP 369.8 bn $US
GDP per capita 48,078 $US

Card-based payments
Cash-based payments
Bank transfer
Wallets
Other

[{"label":"Card-based payments","value":"46"},{"label":"Cash-based payments","value":"3"},{"label":"Bank transfer","value":"11"},{"label":"Wallets","value":"33"},{"label":"Other","value":"7"}]

Banked population

Hong Kong 95%
Asia Pacific 76%
World 67%

Credit card penetration

Hong Kong 67%
Asia Pacific 29%
World 19%

Internet penetration

Hong Kong 89%
Asia Pacific 61%
World 62%

Smartphone penetration

Hong Kong 88%
Asia Pacific 62%
World 70%

With a travel ban in place, Chinese consumers who have been unable to buy Western goods in person have taken to cross border shopping instead. Tmall Global, one of the biggest and most popular cross border marketplace, saw an increase in YOY growth of nearly 70% amongst consumers aged 21 and under.

The number of credit cards in Hong Kong decreased by 0.8% in 2022, whilst the number of payments made by credit card dropped by 220.15 million, or 0.04% down on the same period in 2021.

Like China, the top e-commerce store in Hong Kong in July 2022 was Taobao.com.

Alibaba is closing its Tmall platform in Hong Kong in October 22, citing an overcrowded market as the reason.

Future e-commerce trends (2021-2026)

B2C e-commerce ($US billion)

2022 26.0

2023 29.2

2024 32.5

2025 35.9

2026 39.1

E-commerce spending per capita ($US)

2022 3498

2023 3894

2024 4315

2025 4734

2026 5121

E-commerce spending as % of GDP

2022 6.7%

2023 7.2%

2024 7.6%

2025 8.0%

2026 8.3%

Hong Kong

The E-Commerce Market

Top e-commerce segments

Fashion: 50%
Food & Personal Care: 15%
Electronics & Media: 14%
Furniture & Appliances: 11%
Toys, Hobby & DIY: 9%

Cross-border e-commerce

Cross-border proportion of total e-commerce – 12%
Value of cross-border e-commerce – 2.7 bn $US
Online shoppers who have shopped cross-border – 73%

Top 3 cross-border shopping origin markets

China: 53%
Japan: 38%
US: 34%

B2C e-commerce growth 20->21

Hong Kong 20.2%

E-commerce % of total retail

Hong Kong 11%
Asia Pacific 29%
World 20%

E-commerce completed on a mobile device

Hong Kong 59%
Asia Pacific 65%
World 53%

The Credit Card Split

Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Other

[{"label":"Visa","value":"16"},{"label":"Mastercard","value":"10"},{"label":"American Express","value":"6"},{"label":"Other","value":"68"}]

E-commerce market size 23.0 bn $US
E-commerce spending per capita 3,107 $US
E-commerce spending as % of GDP 6.2%

_{The information on our Insights pages has been compiled by us in cooperation with Datamatics and Wright & Brown. The data shown is partially owned by us and partially owned by GlobalData. © 2021 by PPRO Financial Ltd. No data and information can be used for any further publication without the explicit approval of PPRO.}

Hong Kong

Local Payment Methods

BitPay

Type Cryptocurrency Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Hyperwallet

Type Bank transfer, Gift card, Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayPal

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Paysera

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Skrill

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High WeChat Pay

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific Market relevance High Allied Wallet

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High UnionPay SecurePay

Type Local payment card Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Apple Pay

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Google Pay