The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (March 18) the composite interest rate at the end of February 2021. (Note 1)
      
     The composite interest rate, which is a measure of the average cost of funds of banks, decreased by 1 basis point to 0.23 per cent at the end of February 2021, from 0.24 per cent at the end of January 2021 (see Chart 1 in the Annex). The decrease in composite interest rate mainly reflected a decrease in the weighted funding cost for deposits during the month (see Chart 2 in the Annex). (Note 2)
      
     The historical data of the composite interest rate from the end of the fourth quarter of 2003 to the end of February 2021 are available in the Monthly Statistical Bulletin on the HKMA website (www.hkma.gov.hk).
 
Note 1: The composite interest rate is a weighted average interest rate of all Hong Kong dollar interest-rate-sensitive liabilities, which include deposits from customers, amounts due to banks, negotiable certificates of deposit and other debt instruments, and all other liabilities that do not involve any formal payment of interest but the values of which are sensitive to interest rate movements (such as Hong Kong dollar non-interest bearing demand deposits) on the books of banks. Data from retail banks, which account for about 90 per cent of the total customers' deposits in the banking sector, are used in the calculation. It should be noted that the composite interest rate represents only average interest expenses. There are various other costs involved in the making of a loan, such as operating costs (e.g. staff and rental expenses), credit cost and hedging cost, which are not covered by the composite interest rate.

Note 2: Since June 2019, the composite interest rate and weighted deposit rate have been calculated based on the new local "Interest rate risk in the banking book" (IRRBB) framework. As such, these figures are not strictly comparable with those of previous months.

     The Thematic Household Survey Report No. 72 is published by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) today (March 18).

     This publication contains key findings of the Thematic Household Survey conducted during October 2019 to January 2020. The survey collected information from Hong Kong residents on employees engaged under employment contracts with short duration or working hours, and employment of domestic helpers.

Employees engaged under employment contracts with short duration or working hours ("SDWH" employees)

     The survey results showed that some 203 500 "SDWH" employees were working in the non-government sector at the time of enumeration, representing 6.9% among all employees in the non-government sector. "SDWH" employees refer to employees in the non-government sector who worked for less than four weeks for their employers at the time of enumeration, and/or did not work at least 18 hours per week. They also include those who have already worked for their employers for four weeks or more and usually work at least 18 hours per week (but not continuously) in the present job at the time of enumeration. Among employees in different age groups, those aged 15 to 19 had the largest proportion of being "SDWH" employees, at 63.7%, followed by those aged 60 and over (11.9%).
 
     Of those 203 500 "SDWH" employees, some 155 800 (76.6%) usually worked less than 18 hours per week in their main employment. Of these employees, 133 900 persons (85.9%) did not seek job usually with 18 hours of work or more per week and among them, 101 400 persons (75.7%) would not take up jobs usually with 18 hours of work or more per week even if they were offered.

Employment of domestic helpers

     According to the survey findings, some 355 700 households were employing domestic helpers at the time of enumeration, representing 13.4% of all households. Among those households, 28 200 households (7.9%) were employing local domestic helpers, while 327 700 households (92.2%) were employing foreign domestic helpers.
 
     All foreign domestic helpers were admitted to Hong Kong to provide domestic service on a full-time basis, while nearly all of the local domestic helpers were working on a part-time basis. The median monthly wage paid to foreign domestic helpers was $4,500, while that paid to local part-time domestic helpers was $1,600. Among households with elderly persons aged 60 and over, 11.9% of them were employing domestic helpers. As for households with children aged 12 and below, 32.5% were employing domestic helpers, with most of them employing foreign domestic helpers. This was probably because of the need for full‑time helpers to take care of the children when the adults were at work.

     Regarding job requirements for domestic helpers, the job requirements most commonly cited by households intended to employ local or foreign domestic helpers were "cleaning and tidying up the household", "buying groceries and cooking", "washing/ironing clothes", "taking care of children", "knowing good Cantonese", "knowing good English" and "taking care of the elderly".

Other information

     The survey successfully enumerated target respondents in some 10 000 households in accordance with a scientific sampling scheme to represent the population of Hong Kong.

     Detailed findings of the survey, together with the population coverage and concepts/definitions of key terms, are presented in the publication. Users can download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp140.jsp?productCode=B1130201).

     Enquiries about the contents of the publication can be directed to the Social Surveys Section (2) of the C&SD (Tel: 2887 0592 or email: thematic@censtatd.gov.hk).

     Further to the external merchandise trade statistics in value terms for January 2021 released earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (March 18) the volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade for that month.
 
     In January 2021, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 44.6% and 37.2% respectively over January 2020.
 
     Comparing the three months ending January 2021 with the three months ending January 2020, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 18.7% and 17.3% respectively.
 
     Comparing the three-month period ending January 2021 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 9.1% and 10.3% respectively.
 
     Changes in volume of external merchandise trade are derived from changes in external merchandise trade value with the effect of price changes discounted.
 
     Comparing January 2021 with January 2020, the prices of total exports of goods decreased by 0.4%, while the prices of imports of goods increased by 0.5%.
 
     Price changes in external merchandise trade are reflected by changes in unit value indices of external merchandise trade, which are compiled based on average unit values or, for certain commodities, specific price data.
 
     The terms of trade index is derived from the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods.  Compared with the same period in 2020, the index decreased by 1.0% in January 2021.

     Changes in the unit value and volume of total exports of goods by main destination are shown in Table 1.
 
     Comparing January 2021 with January 2020, double-digit increases were recorded for the total export volume to Taiwan (71.4%), Vietnam (67.4%), the mainland of China (the Mainland) (59.3%), the USA (20.9%) and Japan (20.3%).
 
     Over the same period of comparison, the total export prices to Vietnam (-4.1%), Japan (-1.3%), the USA (-0.5%) and the Mainland (-0.2%) decreased. On the other hand, the total export prices to Taiwan increased by 0.8%.
 
     Changes in the unit value and volume of imports of goods by main supplier are shown in Table 2.
 
     Comparing January 2021 with January 2020, double-digit increases were recorded for the import volume from Taiwan (55.0%), the Mainland (43.5%), Japan (37.7%), Korea (33.9%) and Singapore (31.9%).
 
     Over the same period of comparison, the import prices from Korea (5.0%), Taiwan (3.9%), Singapore (1.9%) and Japan (1.2%) increased. On the other hand, the import prices from the Mainland decreased by 2.0%.
 
Further information
 
     Details of the above statistics are published in the January 2021 issue of "Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Index Numbers". Users can download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp230.jsp?productCode=B1020006).
 
     Enquiries on merchandise trade indices may be directed to the Trade Analysis Section (1) of the C&SD (Tel.: 2582 4918).
 

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (March 18) the preliminary figures of chain volume measures of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by economic activity for the fourth quarter of 2020 and the whole year of 2020.
 
     GDP figures by economic activity show the value of production in respect of individual economic activities. The value of production is measured by net output or value added, which is calculated by deducting intermediate input consumed in the process of production from the gross value of output. Volume measures of GDP by economic activity, expressed in terms of chain volume measures net of the effect of price changes, enable analysis of the output growth profiles of individual economic sectors in real terms.
 
     According to the preliminary figures, overall GDP decreased by 3.0% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, compared with the 3.6% decrease in the third quarter of 2020. For 2020 as a whole, GDP decreased by 6.1% in real terms from 2019.
 
     Analysed by constituent services sector and on a year-on-year comparison, net output in respect of all the services activities taken together decreased by 4.0% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, compared with the 5.5% decrease in the third quarter. While the decline in some industries narrowed in the fourth quarter of 2020, industries related to consumption and tourism still faced notable pressures amid the threat of COVID-19 pandemic. For 2020 as a whole, the net output decreased by 6.8% in real terms for all the services sectors taken together.
 
    Net output in the import and export, wholesale and retail trades sector dropped by 6.2% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, after the decrease of 9.1% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector saw a decrease of 13.3% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the accommodation services (covering hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses and other establishments providing short term accommodation) and food services sector decreased by 32.8% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, after the fall of 45.2% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector decreased by 43.0% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the transportation, storage, postal and courier services sector decreased by 35.5% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, following the decline of 41.8% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector recorded a decrease of 39.5% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the real estate, professional and business services sector decreased by 2.7% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, compared with the decline of 4.1% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector decreased by 4.3% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the public administration, social and personal services sector dropped by 2.0% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, compared with the 0.8% decrease in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector decreased by 2.2% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the information and communications sector increased by 1.7% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 over a year earlier, compared with the growth of 2.1% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector rose by 1.6% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the financing and insurance sector increased by 4.9% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 over a year earlier, compared with the 5.1% rise in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector rose by 3.9% in real terms.
 
     As for sectors other than the services sectors, net output in the local manufacturing sector dropped by 6.0% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, compared with the decrease of 7.4% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector dropped by 5.8% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the electricity, gas and water supply, and waste management sector decreased by 10.6% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, compared with the decrease of 9.4% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector registered a decrease of 11.5% in real terms.
 
     Net output in the construction sector decreased by 4.9% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, after the decrease of 10.2% in the third quarter. For 2020 as a whole, net output in this sector decreased by 7.9% in real terms.
 
Further information
 
     The year-on-year percentage changes of GDP by economic activity in real terms from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020 are shown in Table 1. For enquiries about statistics on GDP by economic activity, please call the National Income Branch (2) of the C&SD at 3903 7005.
 
     Figures of chain volume measures of GDP by economic activity for the fourth quarter of 2020 and the whole year of 2020 are only preliminary at this stage. When more data become available, the preliminary figures will be revised accordingly. More detailed figures can also be found at the Hong Kong Statistics section of the C&SD website (www.censtatd.gov.hk).
  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited on fraudulent website, which has been reported to the HKMA. Hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website for ease of reference by members of the public.
 
     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information to the website concerned or has conducted any financial transactions through the website should contact the bank concerned using the contact information provided in the press release, and report to the Police or contact the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.