Finance

This article draws primarily on The University of Hong Kong's (HKU) official Annual Report and Extract from the University's Annual Accounts to set out the University's annual consolidated income/expenditure, surplus, reserves and income structure. It belongs to reference zone 00–12 (factual), records figures as reported, and carries no credibility badges.

Basis of presentation: HKU's financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June (e.g. "2023–24" means 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024). Figures in this article are primarily presented on the University's consolidated Group basis (in HK$); wherever precise amounts are cited, the financial year and official source are given. For citation purposes, readers should defer to the official HKU Annual Report / Financial Statements.

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# 1. Annual consolidated income and expenditure (2023–24 and 2024–25)

Per HKU's Extract from the Accounts 2024–25^※ and Extract from the Accounts 2023–24^※ (consolidated Group basis):

According to HKU's 2024–25 annual accounts^※, consolidated income grew a further ~11.2% year on year, expenditure rose ~7.6%, and the surplus reached HK$4,814 million — a recent high. Per the 2023–24 accounts^※, that year's consolidated expenditure rose about 6% to HK$12,996 million, with spending on teaching, learning and research up from HK$8,877 million to HK$9,615 million. Total comprehensive income (surplus) between 2022–23 and 2023–24 rose from HK$1,961 million to HK$3,918 million — nearly doubling — driven mainly by the recovery in investment returns and income growth (see below); the 2024–25 surplus grew a further ~23%, continuing the same trend.

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# 2. Income structure (2023–24 and 2024–25)

Per HKU's Extract from the Accounts 2024–25^※, Extract from the Accounts 2023–24^※ and the HKU Annual Report ebook^※, the main income components for the two years are:

# 2.1 Government subventions (UGC): the once-largest, steadily shrinking source

HKU is a statutory public university funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC, 教资会)^※. UGC subventions were for many years HKU's largest and most stable single source of income, but their share has been declining year by year: in 2023–24 government subventions stood at HK$7,038,863 thousand (approx. HK$7.04 billion), or 41.7% of that year's consolidated income; in 2024–25 they fell to HK$6,636 million (approx. HK$6.64 billion)^※, their share dropping further to 35.3% — reflecting both the "dilution" effect of rising tuition and investment income, and, more directly, the UGC's funding cuts for the 2025–28 triennium and the one-off requirement to return reserves. For the funding mechanism, the three-year block grant structure, and the roadmap for local/non-local fee increases, see The balancing act: UGC funding and tuition fees (ugc-funding-and-tuition-model.md).

For the overall framework of UGC funding, the subventions allocated to each institution, and a cross-comparison of the eight UGC-funded universities, refer to the UGC website statistics^※.

# 2.2 Tuition and programme fees: the new largest income source

In 2023–24, tuition, programme and other fees stood at HK$5,650,103 thousand (approx. HK$5.65 billion); in 2024–25 they rose further to HK$6,755 million (approx. HK$6.76 billion)^※, overtaking government subventions for the first time in the University's history to become its largest single income source. This switching of places was driven by two forces: the start of a three-year fee increase for local students in the 2025/26 academic year — the first after a 27-year freeze — and the sustained annual rise of more than 8% in non-local tuition fees, alongside a simultaneous expansion of the non-local admissions cap. The figure covers both fees for UGC-funded programmes and income from self-financed programmes and postgraduate research degrees. For specific fee levels across HKU's programmes, see the admissions module (02-admissions).

# 2.3 Investment returns: the surplus "amplifier"

Net interest and investment gains are the main source of volatility in HKU's surplus. Per the annual accounts over the years, this line jumped from HK$456,007 thousand in 2022–23 to HK$1,627,001 thousand in 2023–24, then to HK$2,647 million (approx. HK$2.65 billion)^※ in 2024–25, or 14.1% of that year's consolidated income — the key variable behind two consecutive years of marked surplus growth. Investment returns swing sharply from year to year with financial-market conditions: in 2021–22 the University recorded a net investment loss of over HK$2 billion, the only negative year in the past five (see the five-year trend table below). HKU's investment governance structure (long-term investment pool, investment office, ESG policy) is covered in Endowments and investment management (endowment-and-investment-management.md).

# 2.4 Donations & benefactions

Donation income was HK$917,398 thousand (approx. HK$0.92 billion) in 2023–24, rising modestly to HK$945 million (approx. HK$0.95 billion)^※ in 2024–25. HKU pursues development through its Development & Alumni Affairs Office, the Hong Kong government's matching grant scheme and major private gifts. Major donations, historical and contemporary, are covered in Benefactors and named gifts (benefactors-and-donors.md); case studies appear in The Tang family donor dynasty (tang-family-donor-dynasty.md) and The 2005 Li Ka-shing naming gift (li-ka-shing-2005-naming-gift.md).

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# 3. Expenditure structure (2023–24 and 2024–25)

Per HKU's 2024–25 annual accounts^※, consolidated expenditure for 2024–25 was HK$13,984 million, up about 7.6% from HK$12,996 million the year before. Broken down by purpose:

As with the other UGC-funded institutions in Hong Kong, staff costs have long been the single largest item of HKU's expenditure — the teaching, learning and research line alone accounts for over two-thirds of consolidated expenditure, reflecting that staff salaries are the University's biggest and most rigid annual outlay. For the full item-by-item breakdown (staff cost analysis, premises maintenance, student services, etc.), refer to the main tables in HKU's annual accounts.

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# 4. Assets and reserve balances

Per HKU's Extract from the Accounts 2024–25^※, as at 30 June 2025 (with 30 June 2024 comparatives):

HKU's fund/reserve balances rose from approximately HK$35.86 billion in 2023–24 to approximately HK$40.68 billion in 2024–25, reflecting the accumulation of that year's surplus (HK$4,814 million). Reserve balances are divided by the nature of funds into three broad categories — UGC funds, restricted funds (the main vehicle for endowments) and other funds — with the full breakdown and a comparison with peer universities in Asia available in Endowments and investment management (endowment-and-investment-management.md). HKU also maintains endowments and various designated-purpose funds; for the detailed classification, refer to the HKU Quick Stats (Finance)^※ and the notes to the annual accounts.

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# 5. Five-year financial trend (2020–21 to 2024–25)

Setting the last five financial years side by side makes the pattern clear: HKU's financial performance rises and falls with the investment market cycle.

Source: HKU's Extract from the Accounts, various years (consolidated Group basis); 2021–22, dragged down by the global capital-market downturn, was the only year in the five to record an overall loss.

Over the five years, HKU's consolidated income rose unevenly from about HK$9.67 billion (in 2021–22, when investment losses under the pandemic pushed total comprehensive income negative even though income itself was HK$9,567 million) to HK$18.78 billion, with the annual surplus heavily dependent on investment-market performance — a pattern consistent with the note in HKU's own annual report: consolidated income growth "was mainly attributable to improved investment performance and increases in government subventions and tuition and other fees"^※. In favourable investment years (2020–21, 2023–24, 2024–25) surpluses were substantial; in adverse years (2021–22) investment directly eroded the surplus and even tipped it into loss — underscoring HKU's exposure to capital-market cycles.

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# 6. Surpluses across Hong Kong's eight public universities, compared (2023–24)

HKU is the largest of Hong Kong's eight UGC-funded institutions, and its surplus performance also sits near the top of the peer group. Figures for the six institutions that disclosed their 2023–24 results, as compiled from China News Service reporting^※:

Basis: the table compiles the six institutions that disclosed figures, as reported in the press — it is not from HKU's official annual accounts and is for rough comparison only. PolyU and EdUHK did not appear in the report and are not included in the total.

The report notes^※ that the six universities' 2023–24 surpluses generally improved, mainly owing to a warming investment market, higher UGC block grants and earmarked grants, and growth in tuition income as non-local admissions expanded — exactly the same three drivers (investment, subventions, tuition) behind HKU's own results. CityU's swing "from loss to profit" underlines that the 2022–23 investment headwind was a sector-wide phenomenon, not unique to HKU. HKU's surplus was roughly 1.76 times that of CUHK, the runner-up, reflecting its largest asset base and broadest income base among the eight universities.

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# 7. Financial outlook: funding cuts and structural pressures (2025–28)

Despite a record surplus in 2024–25, HKU and all of Hong Kong's public universities face structural cuts in the UGC's 2025–28 triennium funding: per the HKSAR Government's response on the 2025–26 Budget^※, the overall block grant for 2025–28 is being compressed through an annual 2% efficiency-saving requirement, amounting to a total reduction of around HK$2.8 billion across the eight universities over the triennium, together with a requirement that the eight collectively return HK$4 billion from the General Development and Reserve Fund (GDRF). As the largest of the eight, HKU bears its corresponding share of the funding cuts and reserve-return burden in this round of adjustment.

This background explains why the University's income structure has undergone the "tuition overtakes subventions" shift over the past two years — local fee increases and the expansion/repricing of non-local admissions are partly offsetting the tightening at the UGC funding end. For the full triennium funding figures, funding structure, fee roadmap and changes to the non-local student ratio, see The balancing act: UGC funding and tuition fees (ugc-funding-and-tuition-model.md).

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# 8. Not found / to be verified

• Precise year-by-year total of the endowment: HKU's annual accounts present funds/reserves on a combined basis; a standalone "total endowment" figure is not separately itemised in the published extracts in exact millions of HK$, and is marked as to-be-verified — refer to the notes in the Finance Office's financial statements.
• Item-by-item breakdown of "other income, net": some sub-totals are not separately presented in the extract and exist only as a balancing figure; the main tables of the annual report need to be consulted.

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# See also

• The balancing act: UGC funding and tuition fees — triennium funding structure, local/non-local fee roadmap
• Endowments and investment management — classification of reserve balances, long-term investment pool and governance
• Benefactors and named gifts — major donations and naming gifts
• The Tang family donor dynasty — donation case study
• Admissions module (02-admissions) — fee levels
• Alumni network and advancement (06-people) — matching grants and fundraising

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