Refugees from Mainland China Built the Population of Hong Kong

When Commodore Gordon Bremer planted the Union Jack at Possession Point on January 26, 1841, the population of Hong Kong Island was approximately 7,450. By 2021, 180 years later, Hong Kong's population had grown to 7.4 million—an increase of about 1,000 times.

In the first twenty years of the colony alone, from 1841 to 1861, Hong Kong's population increased from 7,450 to 119,320. This growth was partly driven by Chinese refugees fleeing the Taiping Rebellion and the Punti-Hakka Clan War in mainland China.

At the turn of the twentieth century, subsequent conflicts such as the First Sino-Japanese War and the anti-Western Boxer Rebellion prompted smaller waves of refugees to Hong Kong.

However, the most significant influx of Chinese refugees occurred during the 1950s and 1960s. The Communist takeover of mainland China in October 1949 compelled millions to flee to Hong Kong. Additional waves followed, including those caused by the flooding in northern Guangdong in the spring of 1957 and devastating famines. The Great Chinese Famine led to another surge, with approximately 140,000 refugees arriving in Hong Kong in 1962 alone.

In fact, between 1951 and 1971, Hong Kong's population grew from about 2 million to 4 million—an increase of 100% in just two decades.