Hong Kong sports sector adds HK$46bn to local economy in 2024

Hong Kong's sports sector and related activities generated HK$46 billion in value added at basic prices in 2024, representing 1.5% of the region's overall economic output, official data from the Census and Statistics Department shows.

According to a feature article released on Monday (17 August) by the department, Hong Kong's sports and related activities contributed HK$70 billion to the city's GDP in 2024 when measured at market prices, which include product taxes and subsidies. That was up to HK$2 billion from 2023.

However, its share of the overall economy edged down slightly by 0.1 percentage point to 2.2%. The sector employed 84,000 people, or 2.3% of Hong Kong's total workforce, roughly the same as the year before.

According to the article, when measured at basic prices, the value added of Hong Kong's sports and related activities reached HK$46 billion in 2024, up HK$2 billion from a year earlier. It accounted for 1.5% of the city's total value added, roughly unchanged from 2023.

The sector is broken down into four categories. Among them, "support services and other sports activities" accounted for the largest share, contributing 39% of total value added. This category covers sports facility construction, betting, publication of sports-related materials, television programme production, and scientific research. It employed 23,000 people, making up 28% of the sector's total workforce.

Another category is "operation of sports facilities and sports clubs", which includes public and private sports facilities, professional sports organisations, and the organisation of sports events and competitions. It accounted for 35% of the sector's value added, up 3% year on year. It was the largest employer among the four categories, with 39,000 people.

Meanwhile, sports tourism contributed 5% of the value added of sports and related activities and employed 6,000 people, making it the smallest of the four categories in both measures.

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The government has long backed community sports, elite athlete development, major event hosting, professional standards, and the growth of the sports industry. In Budget 2026, finance chief Paul Chan reaffirmed this commitment with pledges of additional resources.

The government will inject HK$1.2 billion into the sports portion of the Arts and Sport Development Fund to further promote sports development, including strengthening training for team sports athletes, improving the professional standards of coaches, as well as supporting and exploring more diverse and higher-level sports competitions to be held in Hong Kong.  

The government will also continue promoting Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events and developing sports as an industry through the "M" Mark System. For example, it will continue working with Kai Tak Sports Park to proactively attract more major international sports events and activities.

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