HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's economy expanded steadily in the first quarter of 2025, with real GDP rising 3.1 percent year-on-year, picking up from the 2.5 percent growth in the preceding quarter, according to an official report released on Friday.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter basis, real GDP grew visibly by 1.9 percent in the first quarter, said the First Quarter Economic Report 2025, released by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

Cecilia Lam, acting economist for the HKSAR government, attributed the solid performance of the Hong Kong economy mainly to visible increases in exports of goods and services, as well as the resumption of moderate growth in overall investment expenditure. However, private consumption expenditure continued to register a modest decline, Lam added.

Noting the global economy maintained steady growth in the first quarter, Lam said that with broadly sustained external demand, as well as some front-loading of shipments in anticipation of tariff hikes by the United States in early April, Hong Kong's total exports of goods saw visibly accelerated growth, up 8.4 percent year-on-year in real terms.

Meanwhile, thanks to the further increase in visitor arrivals, growth in cross boundary traffic, and notable increase in cross-boundary financial and fund raising activities, total exports of services continued to expand visibly in the first quarter, up 6.6 percent year-on-year in real terms, Lam added.

Lam said that as international trade tensions have eased somewhat of late, the headwinds and uncertainties in the external environment have lessened to some extent. This may relieve part of the downward pressure on the global economic outlook.

Moreover, the sustained steady growth of the mainland economy amid more proactive fiscal policies and the moderately accommodative monetary policies should bode well for the performance of merchandise exports in Asia including Hong Kong.

Sustained international trade flows, coupled with improving inbound tourism, are also expected to benefit Hong Kong's exports of services, Lam added.