Hong Kong’s stock market stamp duty income is filling the city’s financial coffers at the fastest pace since 2021, amid a bull run on the local bourse that has attracted scores of initial public offerings (IPOs) and fuelled frenzied trading.
Duties from transactions and transfers rose to HK$29.69 billion (US$3.78 billion) in the first five months of 2025, according to calculations by the Post based on government data. Contributions from the stock market jumped 42.5 per cent to HK$52.17 billion for the financial year that ended in March, accounting for about 90 per cent of total stamp duty revenue and 9.3 per cent of the government’s revenue, helping to plug the fiscal hole left by a slumping property market.
It also vindicated the hard stance taken by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, who resisted pressure from local brokers who asserted that the November 2023 cut in transaction costs to 0.1 per cent did not go far enough. At 0.1 per cent, payable by the buyer and seller in a transaction, Hong Kong was among the world’s cheapest major markets for trading, surpassed only by the US, mainland China and Japan, which did not charge any transaction fees.
“The lower stamp duty has helped reduce transaction costs, boosting liquidity and trading activity, which is beneficial for the overall market,” said Dickie Wong, director at the Institute of Securities Dealers in Hong Kong. Combined with near-zero margin financing costs, it has encouraged individual investors to subscribe to new IPOs, further supporting market turnover, he said.
The ceremonial gong used by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) to mark the commencement of trading of a new stock went on a citywide road show on June 20, 2025. Photo: Edmond So
The Hang Seng Index, the city’s stock benchmark, has risen 20 per cent in the first six months of this year, outperforming major indexes globally despite the US-China trade war that started this April, roiling the market.
The stock market’s capitalisation has risen 24 per cent to HK$40.9 trillion as at the end of May according to exchange data, as trading activity picked up. Average daily turnover reached HK$210.3 billion in May, a 50 per cent increase from a year ago, while daily turnover for the first five months averaged HK$242.3 billion, more than double the same period last year.
