38,000 Consumer Complaints Recorded in 2025 Ending a 3-year Rising Trend Online Shopping Complaints Rose to Nearly Half of Total Cases Strengthen Collaboration to Safeguard Consumer Rights

Hong Kong’s economy remained stable with steady progress in 2025, with the annual real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) registering  robust growth of 3.5%. Consumer and business confidence improved significantly, bringing new opportunities for various sectors. The total number of complaints received by the Consumer Council last year brought an end to the consecutive 3‑year upward trend, falling to 38,187 cases, representing a 6% year-on-year (YoY) decrease compared with more than 40,000 cases in 2024.

Online Shopping Complaints Up by 12%

Accounting for Nearly Half of All Cases

Online shopping has become part of the daily lives of many consumers. Among the top 20 traders receiving the most complaints in 2025, most offered online shopping services. The Council received 18,913 online shopping complaints during the year, representing a 12% YoY increase (16,950 cases in 2024). These accounted for around 50% of all 38,187 complaints, higher than the 42% in the previous year. The total monetary amount involved surged by 45% to nearly $93 million.

Cross‑border Consumption Complaints Rose

Establishing a New Framework to Safeguard Consumer Rights

Consumption nowadays has transcended geographical boundaries. As an international metropolis, Hong Kong welcomes nearly 50 million inbound visitors each year and its interactions with the Mainland has also become increasingly frequent across various areas. Apart from complaints involving local consumers, the Council also receives requests for assistance each year from consumers of different countries and regions — particularly from the Mainland — regarding consumption disputes arising from local and cross‑border online shopping. Last year, the Council received a total of 5,192 online shopping complaints from Mainland consumers against Hong Kong traders (including the 3 major Mainland online shopping platforms registered in Hong Kong). Complaints lodged by Hong Kong consumers against Mainland traders under the two relevant categories also increased by more than 40% respectively.

Complaint Cases Lodged by Non-Hong Kong Consumers Against Hong Kong Traders (Including the 3 Major Mainland Online Shopping Platforms Registered in Hong Kong)

Complaint Cases Lodged by Hong Kong Consumers Against Non-Hong Kong (Including Mainland) Traders

To assist consumers in handling and conciliating cross‑border consumption complaints more effectively, the Council has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with 36 countries or regions to establish a complaint referral mechanism. These include 30 provinces and cities in the Mainland, Macau, as well as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. The Council will continue to explore ways to strengthen collaboration with countries and regions with which MOUs have been signed, with a view to fostering a more secure environment for cross‑border consumption together.

Cross‑border consumption covers various aspects of daily life. Early last year, the Council launched the “GBA Smart Guide (Residential Properties)”, a one‑stop online platform covering information on residential property across 11 cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). This was the fruit of close cooperation among consumer bodies in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, marking an important step forward by the Council and its counterparts in cross‑border consumer education and protection of consumer rights. In mid-2025, the Council, together with the Consumers Councils of Guangdong and Macau, issued a joint consumer alert and published an article in CHOICE Magazine reminding consumers to pay attention to regional differences in product standards, voltage and electrical systems, and to exercise caution when choosing products to ensure safety.

The Council also designated the Guangdong Consumer Council as the pilot partner for its Mainland cooperation programme. In addition to coordinating consumer rights protection policies between the two places, the Council also joined the drafting of the “GBA Standards” together with the Macao SAR Government Consumer Council, and will explore collaborations in conducting product tests or research projects, as well as launching joint education and promotional initiatives. In late 2025, the Council established the “Working Group on Cross‑border Consumer Protection and E‑commerce Development”, consolidating views from e‑commerce platforms, electronic payment service providers, industry associations and experts to examine complaint trends, standard‑setting and best practices, with the aim of further promoting healthy development of cross‑border consumer protection and e‑commerce.

Furthermore, although some complaints did not involve Hong Kong traders at all, or the goods had never been dispatched from or routed through Hong Kong, some consumers still lodged complaints with the Council. This included a considerable number of Mainland consumers who complained to the Council about Mainland online shopping platforms that were registered as businesses in Hong Kong. Among these, the 3 major Mainland online shopping platforms received 2,218 complaints from Mainland consumers during the year, with a resolution rate of 71%.

To assist Mainland consumers in resolving this type of consumption dispute, the Council signed a MOU with the Zhejiang Consumers Council last year and established a “Cross‑border Consumption Service Station” with one of the online shopping platforms as a pilot initiative. Upon receiving relevant complaints from Mainland consumers, and subject to the complainant’s consent, the Council would refer the cases through the Yuhang District Consumer Protection Commission for follow‑up by the service station.

Grace Period Needed Amidst Array of Mega Events

Exploring Enhancements to Ticketing Arrangements to Improve Experience

The HKSAR Government’s vigorous promotion of the mega events economy, along with the opening of Kai Tak Sports Park early last year providing another world-class venue for different types of performances and sports events, attracted audiences from around the world — particularly from the Mainland — to visit Hong Kong specifically to attend such mega events. However, various factors such as the insufficient experience of some event organisers and ticketing platforms, or time needed for adjusting to different venues, gave rise to a number of issues including discrepancies between the actual and promoted event arrangements, obstructed sightlines, and errors in ticket information. Last year, there were 1,889 complaints relating to public performances, representing a significant 202% spike compared with the previous year. Complaints relating to sports events, on the other hand, dropped by 89% to 175 cases (1,476 complaint cases in 2024 were due to football star Messi’s non-appearance incident).

Among these cases, the Hot Air Balloon Festival (categorised under “Others”) generated 350 complaints due to the cancellation of the balloon ride experience, mainly involving issues with sales practices. In addition, the concert of an internationally renowned band attracted 391 complaints because of obstructed sightlines and ticket printing errors. This year, the Council will focus on strengthening communication with ticketing platforms to explore ways to improve ticketing arrangements, so that both local consumers and those travelling to Hong Kong specifically to attend mega events could enjoy a pleasant experience with peace of mind.

Rise in Complaints from Senior Consumers

Supporting All-round Enhancement of Self‑protection Capability

As Hong Kong’s population continues to age, the Government has spared no effort in boosting the silver economy, and the senior consumer market has been expanding steadily. Among the 38,187 complaints received in total, around 48% (18,496 cases) of the complainants had provided age information. From these, the Council consolidated the 2,769 complaints from senior consumers aged 55 or above for analysis. Complaints relating to telecommunications services were the most common, with 500 cases, representing a 5% YoY decrease.

*Including 365 cases related to the closure of Physical Fitness

Senior consumers face various challenges during the consumption process, such as insufficient information, complicated sales practices and contract terms that are difficult to understand. Safeguarding their consumer rights has therefore become an important issue. With senior consumer rights being one of the key focus areas under the Council’s 3‑year strategic plan, the Council launched the new “Smart Seniors” Consumer eHub last month. Designed with an elderly-friendly interface, this one-stop information platform consolidates informative content, feature articles and anti‑scam tips through collaboration with different partners to enable senior consumers, their families and carers to enhance their self‑protection capability and strengthen access to “silver consumption” information. In addition, the Council will continue to conduct thematic studies, product tests and service surveys relating to the consumption needs of seniors, empowering the silver‑haired community to make informed choices and jointly fostering an age-friendly society.

Top 10 Local Complaint Categories Involved Over $100 Million in Total

Excluding the 2,218 complaints lodged by Mainland consumers against the 3 major Mainland online shopping platforms, the Council received 35,969 complaint cases in 2025 that involved Hong Kong consumers and/or local traders, representing a 4% decrease compared with 2024. The top 10 categories accounted for 22,760 cases, equivalent to 63% of all complaints received during the year. “Food and entertainment” ranked as the top complaint category for the fourth consecutive year, reaching 6,922 cases. Among them, complaints about food delivery platforms were the largest in number, at 2,022 cases, a 76% increase from 1,146 cases in the previous year. Furthermore, complaints concerning medical services climbed to fifth place as a result of 1,299 complaints arising from the closure of Alliance Medical Group.

* The figures above exclude complaints lodged by Mainland consumers against the 3 major Mainland online shopping platforms

Among the 35,969 complaints involving Hong Kong consumers and/or local traders, 21% were related to service quality, amounting to 7,664 cases, rising 41% YoY. Complaints involving “Variation / Termination of Contract” also rose by 19% to 5,666 cases, accounting for 16% of all complaints. These 2 types of complaint nature involved a total amount of over $180 million. Although the closure of Alliance Medical Group last year affected a large number of consumers, complaints relating to business closures actually fell by 69% (2,012 cases), as the baseline in 2024 had been inflated by the shutdown of Physical Fitness.

Since cases relating to service quality represented the largest share of complaints by nature, all sectors must endeavour to improve service quality and honour contractual commitments. Only by doing so could consumer confidence be continuously strengthened, thereby further stimulating consumption by both local residents and visitors to revitalise the economy.

Strengthening Cross-sector Collaboration to Reduce Complaints

Leveraging Technological Innovation to Promote Consumer Rights

In the year ahead, the Council will adopt a more forward‑looking strategy and actively strengthen engagement with traders in Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas, encouraging innovative business models and enhancing the quality of goods and services. The Council will also reinforce collaboration with various regulatory authorities on improving product safety, service quality and consumer education. This includes working more closely with the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) to conduct tests on electrical appliances to ensure compliance with safety and performance standards, thereby safeguarding consumer safety.

The Council will also further enhance consumer information and revamp its dissemination channels, expanding its reach across more social media platforms and adopting diverse approaches, including a new mobile app, to educate and empower consumers to better protect themselves. By leveraging innovation and collaboration, the Council will strive to progressively reduce complaints, working hand in hand with different stakeholders to foster a safe, transparent and trustworthy consumption ecosystem, ultimately steering the local consumption market to new milestones and providing more reliable, comprehensive consumer protection in a new consumption era no longer restricted by geographical boundaries.