Around 1,4 million people in Hong Kong were living below the poverty line before the COVID-19 pandemic began, making it the highest poverty rate in the country in almost a decade. After the pandemic took hold in the country, the poverty rate has only increased. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread job losses in Hong Kong.

The unemployment rate has reached 6.4 per cent - the highest figure in 15 years - and 257,000 people are now out of work. Oxfam Hong Kong´s (OHK) latest research shows that the number of unemployed people from poor households has risen to nearly 110,000 this year, 75 per cent of whom may be outside the safety net of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA).

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unstable and difficult economic environment, making it difficult to find and keep a job in Hong Kong and increasing poverty in Hong Kong.