A survey conducted by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board indicates that 67 percent of surveyed interviewees in the city have a savings habit, with an average monthly amount of HK$9,800 ($1,260).

Moreover, residents need to save an average of HK$1.03 million to maintain the current living standard for a year with a sense of security, the survey showed.

The HKDPB commissioned the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct telephone interviews with 1,001 Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above from August to October, and to carry out an in-depth survey with 323 pre-retirees — working individuals aged 50 to 65.

According to the survey, the savings amount of HK$9,800 represented a 10 percent growth from last year, and is the highest figure since the survey began in 2018.

Nearly 80 percent of respondents put their savings into bank deposits or time deposits, about 5 percentage points higher than last year. Close to 20 percent of respondents have set their average yearly savings target at HK$307,000, the highest amount the survey had recorded, representing a 68 percent hike from a year ago.

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“Even though interest rates may decrease in the future, it may not affect the savings habit. As the global investment environment may not be stable, we believe not everybody will pull out their funds from saving when interest rates decrease,” HKDPB Chairperson Connie Lau Yin-hing said at the Tuesday news conference.

The survey also revealed that pre-retirees will save an average of HK$9,600 a month this year, with the goal of saving an average of HK$5.45 million to gain a sufficient sense of security for retirement.

“This enhanced sense of saving may reflect (that) Hong Kong residents are worried about the economic situation of Hong Kong in the coming year. It may be difficult t oboost the segment of private consumption expenditures at this juncture,” HKIAPS Assistant Director (Executive) Victor Zheng Wan-tai said.

Zheng added that an increase in the savings amount may also show that Hong Kong residents are confident about the local employment market and the prospects for their income levels, so they are willing to save more.

With effect from Oct 1, the protection limit on the Deposit Protection Scheme was increased to HK$800,000 per depositor per member. As at March, 148 local and overseas licensed banks in Hong Kong had joined the program, and the total amount of bank deposits held by members reached HK$2.58 trillion in 2023.

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The Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board is an independent statutory body formed under the Deposit Protection Scheme Ordinance to oversee the operations of the Deposit Protection Scheme.