Hong Kong's gross national income (GNI) grew by 4.2% year-on-year (YoY) to reach $899.6 billion in the third quarter of this year, while the gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $812.3 billion, marking a 6.1% YoY increase, according to the latest report by the Census and Statistics Department.

The GNI surpassed the GDP by $87.2 billion, or 10.7% of GDP, mainly due to a net inflow of investment income. After adjusting for price changes, GNI increased by 1.9% in real terms, while GDP rose by 1.8% during the same period.

The total inflow of primary income, predominantly from investment income, jumped 10.3% year-on-year to $616.1 billion, making up 75.8% of GDP. At the same time, the total outflow of primary income rose by 14.7% YoY to $528.9 billion, or 65.1% of GDP, Hong Kong Business reports.

In addition, direct investment income (DII) increased by 13.5%, driven by higher earnings from the overseas direct investment activities of local businesses. Portfolio investment income (PII) grew by 8.4% YoY, fuelled by greater interest income earned by resident investors from non-resident debt securities.

Furthermore, DII outflows grew by 17.4%, primarily due to higher earnings of multinational companies from their direct investments in Hong Kong. PII outflows increased by 11.1%, driven by higher dividend payments to non-resident investors holding resident equity securities.

Mainland China remained the largest source of Hong Kong’s primary income inflows, contributing 40.3%, followed by the British Virgin Islands (BVI) at 16.5%. For outflows, Mainland China accounted for 33.2%, with BVI contributing 20%, according to the department.