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Employees in Hong Kong, Macao, and the Greater Bay Area can expect average salary increases of 3.5%, 2.5%, and 4.0% respectively in 2026, according to the latest pay trend survey.
Employees across Hong Kong, Macao, and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) saw average salary growth of 2.7%, 2.3%, and 4.1% respectively in 2025, according to 2025 Pay Trends and 2026 Outlook for Hong Kong & Greater Bay Area by Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM).
The 2025 Pay Trend Survey, conducted by HKIHRM and CIIC Management Consulting Co., Ltd. (CIIC) during the first three quarters of this year, gathered data from:
- 167 companies in Hong Kong across 12 business sectors;
- 34 companies in Macao across four industries; and
- 427 companies in nine GBA cities spanning over 10 industries
In Hong Kong, the 2025 average salary growth was 0.5 percentage point lower than the previous year. After accounting for the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase of 1.5% from January to August 2025, the real base pay adjustment amounted to 1.2%.
Key factors influencing pay adjustment in Hong Kong:
- Company Performance (76%)
- Hong Kong’s Economic Conditions (44%)
- Individual Performance (40%)
- Market/Competitor’s Pay Adjustment (35%)
Over four-fifths (88.6%) of surveyed companies in Hong Kong implemented salary increases in 2025, while 11.4% froze salaries, marking a 3.1 percentage-point rise in salary freezes – the highest since 2022.
Across the GBA, 61.4% implemented pay increases, while 19.9% opted to freeze salaries, and 18.7% reported salary decreases. 30.2% followed their original pay adjustment plan without being affected by the market environment, down from 41.8% last year. Meanwhile, 31.2% of companies reported a reduction in pay adjustment budgets, up from 19.3% in the previous year.
Bonus trends
Hong Kong
- Guaranteed bonus offered by 36.5% of companies, the average payout amounted to 1.06 months of base salary.
- Non-guaranteed bonus offered by 87.4%, the average payout amounted to 1.38 months’ basic salary.
Macao
- Guaranteed bonus offered by 47.1% of companies, the average payout amounted to 1.26 months of base salary.
- Non-guaranteed bonus offered by 73.5%, the average payout amounted to 1.16 months of base salary.
GBA
“Year-end bonuses” were the most popular form of incentive:
- 82% issued year-end bonuses for 2024, the average bonus amount was 1.7 months of base salary
- 17% of companies did not offer year-end bonuses
Pay adjustment projection for 2026
|
Average salary increases |
Plan to implement salary increases |
Have yet to decide |
||
|
Hong Kong |
3.5% |
30% |
68% |
2% anticipate pay cuts |
|
Macao |
2.5% |
23.5% |
70.6% |
5.9% anticipate salary freeze |
|
GBA |
4.0% |
24.1% |
60.4% |
15.5% expected to freeze salaries |
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