Hong Kong is the control case — with a pegged currency, per-visitor spending falls by the same amount in HK dollars and in US dollars
Overnight visitors spent HK$5,503 each in 2025, down 5.4% from 2019. In US dollars the same figure is down 4.9%. Elsewhere in Asia the two numbers diverge sharply, and in Taiwan they carry opposite signs.
How much does a visitor spend in Hong Kong?
An overnight visitor spent HK$5,503 in 2025 and a same-day visitor HK$1,139 (Census and Statistics Department, per capita destination consumption spending).
The interesting thing about these figures is what happens when you convert them.
How much does a visitor spend in Hong Kong?
Per overnight visitor (HK$)
Shared linear scale from zero. Selected entries from the table below. Its dates, units, definitions and limitations still apply.
| Year | Overnight visitors | Per overnight visitor (HK$) | Same as US$ | Per same-day visitor (HK$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 26,686,026 | 7,234 | 933 | 2,409 |
| 2019 | 23,752,359 | 5,818 | 743 | 2,004 |
| 2023 | 17,159,320 | 6,939 | 886 | 1,316 |
| 2024 | 21,943,913 | 5,490 | 704 | 1,235 |
| 2025 | 23,190,097 | 5,503 | 706 | 1,139 |
Hong Kong dollars and US dollars tell almost the same story here: a 5.4% fall against a 4.9% fall between 2019 and 2025. That is not a coincidence, and it is what makes Hong Kong useful as a reference point for the rest of the region.
The US dollar column is a CapsWindow conversion at BIS annual average rates; C&SD publishes the series in Hong Kong dollars only. The two visitor types are shown separately because C&SD publishes them separately — blending them into one average would mix a HK$5,503 figure with a HK$1,139 figure whose relative weights change every year. The spending measure is destination consumption expenditure, which excludes international transport fares; the Hong Kong Tourism Board's broader measure of total tourism expenditure associated with inbound tourism includes them and is therefore a larger number.
Why Hong Kong’s two columns match and Japan’s do not
The Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to the US dollar throughout this period: the annual average was 7.8353 in 2019 and 7.7961 in 2025. A measurement in one currency is therefore nearly a measurement in the other.
Japan is the opposite. Spending per visitor there rose from ¥158,531 in 2019 to ¥228,782 in 2025 — 44.3% in yen. Converted at the same kind of annual average rates, that is US$1,454 to US$1,529, or 5.1%. Nothing about the underlying survey changed between those two readings; the yen did.
Taiwan makes the point without any conversion at all, because its tourism authority publishes both currencies side by side. Between 2024 and 2025 its per-visitor spending figure rose 0.86% in US dollars and fell 2.13% in New Taiwan dollars. Two official numbers, one dataset, opposite signs.
What is actually changing in Hong Kong
Strip the currency question away and two things stand out in the published series.
First, the mix. Same-day visitors were 57.5% of arrivals in 2019 and 53.5% in 2025 — a shift towards overnight visitors, who spend roughly five times as much per head. Total arrivals were 49,894,832 in 2025 against 55,912,609 in 2019.
Second, the per-visitor decline is concentrated in same-day visitors. Their spending fell 43.2% between 2019 and 2025, from HK$2,004 to HK$1,139. Overnight spending fell 5.4% over the same period. Average length of stay went from 3.3 nights to 3.1.
| Year | Total arrivals | Overnight expenditure (HK$ m) | Same-day expenditure (HK$ m) | Avg stay (nights) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 59,307,596 | 193,041 | 78,482 | 3.3 |
| 2019 | 55,912,609 | 138,195 | 64,215 | 3.3 |
| 2023 | 33,999,660 | 119,070 | 22,164 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 44,502,787 | 120,483 | 27,864 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 49,894,832 | 127,609 | 30,416 | 3.1 |
A per-visitor figure moves for several reasons at once: the exchange rate, the length of stay, the mix of source markets, and the share of arrivals who never stay a night. In Hong Kong the currency contributes almost nothing, which makes the other three easier to see. In a market with a floating currency they are harder to separate — which is a reason to look at the local-currency and converted series together rather than picking one. This paragraph is interpretation; the figures in the tables are observations from published statistics.
The same comparison across Asia
Levels are not comparable because the measures differ, so only the rates of change are shown.
| Market | Published measure | Period | Local currency | US dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | spend per visitor per trip (yen) | 2019→2025 | +44.3% | +5.1% |
| Taiwan | spend per visitor per trip (both currencies published) | 2019→2025 | +6.8% | +5.9% |
| Taiwan | same measure | 2024→2025 | −2.1% | +0.9% |
| Thailand | spend per person per day (baht) | 2024→2025 | +0.8% | +8.1% |
| Hong Kong | spend per overnight visitor (HK$) | 2019→2025 | −5.4% | −4.9% |
| Indonesia | spend per visit (US dollars only published) | 2019→2025 | +28.9% | +10.6% |
| Vietnam | spend per international tourist (US dollars only published) | 2019→2024 | +6.0% | +1.1% |
Rates of change only. The measures are not on one definition: Thailand's is per day, the rest are per trip. Same-day visitors are inside the arrivals counts of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan, and outside Thailand's. The US dollar column for Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong, and the local-currency column for Indonesia and Vietnam, are CapsWindow conversions at BIS annual averages; Taiwan's two columns are both official. Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have no row because they publish no per-visitor measure at all.
What to check when reading these numbers
Check which currency the figure is in. The same survey result supports two different headlines, and neither is wrong — they answer different questions. A local operator’s revenue is a local-currency question; how expensive a destination looks from abroad is a dollar question.
Check whether same-day visitors are included. Hong Kong publishes them separately, which most markets do not. In Malaysia same-day visitors are 37–39% of the visitor count but only 3.9–4.4% of spending, so a shift in that mix moves the average without anyone changing their behaviour.
Check whether the measure is per trip or per day. Thailand publishes only per day. If length of stay changes, the two can move in opposite directions.
Check who did the converting. This article marks which columns are official and which are ours. A conversion that is not visible gets read as a change in behaviour.
Questions & answers
How much does a visitor spend in Hong Kong?
An overnight visitor spent HK$5,503 in 2025 and a same-day visitor HK$1,139, on the Census and Statistics Department's per capita destination consumption measure. The equivalent 2019 figures were HK$5,818 and HK$2,004.
Does the currency used change the answer in Hong Kong?
Barely. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar, so the 2019 to 2025 change is minus 5.4% in Hong Kong dollars and minus 4.9% in US dollars. In Japan the same comparison gives plus 44.3% in yen and plus 5.1% in US dollars.
How many visitors came in 2025?
49,894,832 arrivals, of which 23,190,097 stayed overnight and 26,704,735 were same-day visitors. Same-day visitors were 53.5% of the total, down from 57.5% in 2019.
How much did visitors spend in total?
HK$127,609 million by overnight visitors and HK$30,416 million by same-day visitors in 2025, on the C&SD destination consumption measure. This excludes international transport fares, which the Hong Kong Tourism Board's broader measure includes.