Hong Kong and Singapore are in constant competition, with both laying claim to being the leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region. Their economies are similar in size: in 2017, Hong Kong recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.41bn, compared with Singapore’s $3.24bn. Both are considered attractive places to live, ranking high in quality of life surveys. In the most recent survey by human resources company ECA International, for example, Singapore was found to be the most liveable city in the world, while Hong Kong came in 41st. Each looks to the other as the location to beat.
Yet amid the competition is also a high level of interconnectedness. Hong Kong was Singapore’s second largest export market in 2017 (after China), with $46bn-worth of imports, according to data from World’s Top Exports. In reverse flows the same year, Singapore imported $11.2bn of Hong Kong’s exports.
