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The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies conducted a telephone survey from 10 January to 19 January, 2022 to study the popularity of the HKSAR Government. The major findings are:

Satisfaction with the HKSAR Government.  According to the survey, 17.3% of the 706 respondents expressed satisfaction with the HKSAR Government, 48.5% said they were dissatisfied and 31.8% answered ‘in-between’. The corresponding figures for November 2021 were 19.3%, 46.9% and 32.3% respectively. The statistical analysis (chi-square test) shows that the results for January 2022 were not statistically significantly different from those for November 2021. However, when comparing the January 2022 figures with those from January 2021, the difference in percentage distribution was statistically significant.

Rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.  The survey in January 2022 indicated that Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s performance rating (on a point scale ranging from 0 to 100, with 50 as the passing mark) stood at 33.3 on average, higher than the rating for November 2021 (32.9). But the statistical significance test (t-test) showed that the mean difference between the ratings in January 2022 and November 2021 was not statistically significant. When comparing her current rating (33.3) with that of January 2021 (25.8), the mean difference was statistically significant.

Ratings of Three Secretaries.  The ratings of the Chief Secretary for Administration (John Lee), Financial Secretary (Paul Chan) and Secretary for Justice (Teresa Cheng) in the January 2022 survey were 29.1, 38.7 and 25.1 respectively. The corresponding figures in November 2021 were 30.8, 37.0 and 25.8 respectively. The comparison of the ratings of the three Secretaries between January 2022 and November 2021 did not find any statistically significant differences. When their ratings in January 2022 were compared with the respective figures in January 2021, the current rating of the Financial Secretary and the Secretary for Justice were higher and the differences were statistically significant. On the other hand, the Chief Secretary for Administration was appointed in July 2021, and therefore no comparison could be made.

Trust in the HKSAR Government.  As of January 2022, 22.0% of the respondents said they trusted the HKSAR Government and 37.4% expressed distrust; 36.8% answered ‘in-between’. The results in November 2021 were 23.0%, 39.8%, and 35.4% respectively. No statistically significant difference was found in trust in the HKSAR Government between January 2022 and November 2021. When comparing the figures in the current survey with those of January 2021, the difference between January 2022 (Trust: 22.0%; Distrust: 37.4%) and January 2021 (Trust: 18.2%; Distrust: 54.1%) was statistically significant.

Trust in the Central Government.  Regarding the level of trust in the Central Government in January 2022, 21.3% said they trusted it, 39.7% answered the opposite and 32.0% said ‘in-between’. The respective figures from November 2021 were 22.1%, 41.8%, and 32.2%. No statistically significant difference was found between January 2022 and November 2021. However, the difference between the percentages in January 2022 (Trust: 21.3%; Distrust: 39.7%) and January 2021 (Trust: 17.2%; Distrust: 57.7) was statistically significant.

In conclusion, the January 2022 survey results indicate that all the popularity indices (the public satisfaction level with the government’s performance, the performance rating of the Chief Executive and the three Secretaries, and trust in the HKSAR Government and the Central Government) were not significantly different from those in November 2021 (significance test shows the differences are not statistically significant). However, when compared with the survey conducted in January 2021, all the popularity indices in the current survey were found to be significantly higher than those a year ago (significance test also shows the differences are all statistically significant).

The survey employed a dual-frame sampling design that included both landline and mobile phone numbers. A total of 706 respondents aged 18 or above (landline: 348; mobile: 358) were successfully interviewed, with response rates of 28.2% (landline) and 30.3% (mobile). The sampling error for the sample size of 706 is estimated at plus or minus 3.69 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Furthermore, the data in this survey was weighted based on the probability of the respondents being selected via dual-frame sampling design and relevant age-sex distribution of the population published by the Census and Statistics Department before analysis.