Hong Kong’s hawkers could disappear by 2033 unless rules eased, lawmaker says
Number of fixed-pitch hawkers has dropped by 40 per cent since 2000 to 4,848 in 2024, while itinerant street sellers have fallen to just 233

Hong Kong should relax hawker licensing rules so assistants who are not family members can take over stalls, a lawmaker and a district councillor have said, as the city recorded an 80 per cent drop since 2000 in the number of itinerant street sellers.
The trade could disappear entirely by 2033, the legislator warned on Wednesday.
The plea came after research by the Legislative Council found the number of fixed-pitch hawkers had decreased by 40 per cent since 2000 to 4,848 in 2024, while itinerant street sellers fell by 80 per cent over the same period to just 233.
“I feel that it is a big pity that the number of fixed-pitch hawkers and itinerant hawkers has dropped by a lot … We also have an ageing problem, with 90 per cent of itinerant hawkers over 60 years old,” lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon said on Wednesday.
“Based on these figures, particularly those for itinerant hawkers, there is a chance that the sector could disappear by 2033.”
Kong said authorities should consider opening up succession rules to help the industry to survive, noting that other places such as Taiwan and Singapore had adopted a more relaxed approach to licensing.