Cross-border retirement plans could give Hongkongers access to cheaper healthcare: experts

Hong Kong has an ageing population, a low birth rate and many retirees are financially unprepared for the future, experts say

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A panel discussion at the Asian Financial Forum with, from left to right, Prudential Hong Kong CEO Lawrence Lam, General Re’s Orchis Li, HKU’s director of the Asia Global Institute Tang Heiwei and Wilson Tang of BOC Group Life Assurance. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 9:15pm, 13 Jan 2025

Cross-border retirement plans could provide Hong Kong retirees access to more affordable healthcare, experts and academics said at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong on Monday.

Offerings like cross-border medical care and retirement homes could help Hongkongers facing a crowded public health system and expensive private services to find more affordable and accessible options in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), where living and healthcare costs were much lower, they said.

Hong Kong has an ageing population, a low birth rate and many retirees are financially unprepared for the future, they said. The city’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) can cover only around 40 per cent of pre-retirement income, leading to a significant quality-of-life downgrade, according to Heiwai Tang, an economic professor at the University of Hong Kong.

“The subscription of pension life insurance products in Hong Kong [is] actually very small,” Tang said.

OECD estimates show that retiring individuals reaching the age of 65 want to have at least 70 per cent of their previous year’s income to maintain a comparable quality of life, Tang said.

At the same time, Hong Kong’s healthcare system is under strain because of an ageing population and the departure of medical professionals.

People aged 65 and older accounted for about 22 per cent of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population in 2023, according to the Statistics Department. By 2046, they are projected to make up around 36 per cent of the total population.