Hong Kong sees sharp rise in trade volumes and prices in September 2026
Hong Kong's external merchandise trade volumes surged in September 2026, with exports up 36.1% and imports up 30.7% year-on-year. Trade prices also rose sharply, while Taiwan and the United States led destination growth.
Hong Kong's external merchandise trade recorded substantial year-on-year increases in both volume and price in September 2026, according to official data released on 12 November 2026 by the Census and Statistics Department.
Compared with September 2025, the volume of total exports rose by 36.1 per cent and the volume of imports rose by 30.7 per cent. For the first nine months of 2026, export volume was up 29.9 per cent and import volume up 30.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2025. Seasonally adjusted figures show that in the third quarter of 2026, export volume increased by 1.8 per cent and import volume by 1.0 per cent compared with the previous quarter.
Trade prices also climbed significantly. In September 2026, overall export prices rose by 20.3 per cent and import prices by 19.7 per cent year-on-year. For the first nine months, export prices increased by 11.4 per cent and import prices by 11.0 per cent. The net barter terms of trade index, which compares export and import price movements, edged up by 0.5 per cent in September and by 0.4 per cent for the January–September period compared with the same periods in 2025.
By destination, the largest export volume gains in September 2026 were to Taiwan (up 120.5 per cent), the United States (90.1 per cent), Vietnam (36.8 per cent) and mainland China (34.7 per cent). Exports to India fell by 2.4 per cent. Export prices to all major destinations rose, with mainland China up 23.8 per cent, the United States up 20.3 per cent, Taiwan up 15.3 per cent, Vietnam up 13.6 per cent and India up 12.3 per cent.
On the import side, volumes from all major suppliers increased in September 2026 compared with a year earlier: South Korea (up 118.2 per cent), Vietnam (73.6 per cent), mainland China (29.7 per cent), Singapore (25.6 per cent) and Taiwan (18.3 per cent). Import prices from all major suppliers also rose, with South Korea up 50.8 per cent, Taiwan up 29.4 per cent, Vietnam up 22.2 per cent, mainland China up 19.8 per cent and Singapore up 16.7 per cent.
The government noted that detailed data are available in the September 2026 issue of the Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Index, which can be downloaded from the Census and Statistics Department website.
