HONG KONG PLAYING WITH THE BIG BOYS, Tiny Hong Kong scored seventh place in a GLOBAL chart of trade performance in 2024, it was revealed this week. 香港與大國同樂，本周公布的 2024 年全球貿易表現排行榜中，小國香港排名第七.

Achieving US$1.7 trillion in trade in a year, the small city is not far behind country-sized economies such as Mainland China, the US, India, and Germany.

And trade is set to grow steadily, data indicates. Hong Kong is on an upward trend, tipped to be the world’s sixth largest achiever in trade volume growth in the period to 2029, said the DHL Trade Atlas 2025, based on data analysis by New York University.

“Hong Kong is forecast to maintain a 3.1% compound annual trade volume growth rate over the 2024 – 2029 period,” the report notes.

The figures also showed that the city was no longer dependent on the west. “Eight out of the top ten of Hong Kong’s export and import destinations from 2018 to 2023 were within Asia or in the Middle East,” the study said.

DHL Express spokesman Andy Chiang said he expects Hong Kong to benefit from the increasing “trade within Asia” given its position and strong connections.

DHL itself is making use of the data from the study it sponsored. The firm is expanding in Hong Kong through investments, including the inauguration of a Hong Kong West Service Center and the expansion of the Central Asia hub at Hong Kong International Airport.

The logistics company has also started new direct flights from Hong Kong to Jakarta and Sydney.

While news channels obsess over the west, Asia is quietly getting on with the business of developing.