Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at Chinese University surveyed 716 people aged 18 or above from September 16 to 25 on Hong Kong people’s intention of moving overseas or to mainland China.

Among the respondents, 42 percent indicated they would emigrate if they had the chance. It was slightly lowerly than 43.9 percent last year, but the difference is considered statistically insignificant.

Of those who said they would like to move in this year's survey, 38.7 percent have started preparations for emigration.

Among those who intend to emigrate, 26.1 percent said they would like to move to United Kingdom. Other top picks were Canada, Australia, and Taiwan – at 14 percent, 11 percent and 7.5 percent respectively.

The respondents were also asked to rate Hong Kong’s livability on a scale from 0 (very unsuitable) to 100 (very suitable).

The current average rating from respondents for Hong Kong’s livability was 52.1 out of 100, which is not only higher than 49.6 of last year but also reversed the declining trend observed since 2017.

The top four push factors for moving were: “undemocratic political system or decreasing democracy or no more democratic elections” (24.0 percent), “dissatisfied with SAR government, the chief executive, senior officials or government policies” (21.3 percent), “excessive political dispute or social cleavage” (20.2 percent), “collapsing liberty, human rights or freedom of information” (19.4 percent).

Respondents were attracted by overseas countries' more liberal environment, ample living space and democratic political systems. They also cited UK's relaxed conditions of immigration for those with British National (Overseas) passports.

In addition, over a tenth of all respondents said they intend to move to the mainland, slightly higher than last year.