Hong Kong Private Sector Grows for 2nd Month

The S&P Global Hong Kong SAR PMI edged down to 50.4 in September 2025 from 50.7 in August, signaling a sustained but slightly softer improvement in the health of Hong Kong’s private sector economy. This marked the second month of expansion, as output rose at a slightly stronger pace—the fastest since last November. Meanwhile, new orders declined marginally, with the rate of contraction unchanged from August. External demand remained subdued, with sales to Mainland China and overseas falling markedly. Backlogs of work decreased modestly, while employment levels were broadly stable. Purchasing activity continued to fall, though at the slowest pace in seven months. On prices, overall input costs rose at the fastest rate since November 2023, driven by higher raw material and labor costs. Output prices were also raised, but the rate of charge inflation was only fractional. Looking ahead, firms were broadly downbeat, though the degree of pessimism was the least severe since November 2023.