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The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) conducted a telephone survey from 31 July to 12 August 2024 to gauge the public’s level of interest in politics. 58.8% of the respondents said they were not very interested or not interested at all, lower than in July 2023.

The survey asked the respondents about their level of interest in politics. 58.8% said they were not very interested (33.6%) or not interested at all (25.2%), while 40.8% were very interested (5.4%) or moderately interested (35.4%). Compared with a similar survey conducted in July 2023, the number of those who were not very interested or not interested at all decreased by 4.1 percentage points, while the number of those who were very interested or moderately interested increased by 6.6 percentage points. The statistical analysis (chi-square test) showed that the results for 2024 were statistically significantly different from those for 2023.

The survey listed some possible channels for expressing political opinions and asked the respondents how often they had expressed their opinions on issues related to their local district or Hong Kong as a whole via these channels in the past year. It found that most respondents did not actively use these channels to express their opinions. Comparatively, social media was more frequently used to express opinions than other channels. 15.2% of the respondents always (3.4%) or sometimes (11.8%) posted or shared political messages on social media and other internet forums, while 14.7% seldom did so and 70.1% had never done so. The survey also found that 8.9% of the respondents said that they always (1.5%) or sometimes (7.4%) expressed their opinions to District Councillors or Legislative Councillors, while 11.8% seldom did so and 78.8% had never done so. 8.8% of the respondents always (2.1%) or sometimes (6.7%) expressed their opinions through non-governmental organisations, while 11.0% seldom did so and 80.1% had never done so. Lastly, 7.2% of the respondents always (1.5%) or sometimes (5.7%) expressed their opinions directly to relevant government departments or their officials, while 11.2% seldom did so and 80.9% had never done so. For all the above four channels for expressing political opinions, the statistical analysis (chi-square test) showed there were no statistically significant differences in the percentage distributions between 2023 and 2024.

When the respondents were asked about their views on statements which may reflect the reasons for their level of political interest, 56.2% agreed that “government officials do not care much what people like me think”, 18.2% disagreed and 19.6% said “half-half”. 53.1% of the respondents agreed that “people like me don’t have any say about government policies”, while 26.2% disagreed and 16.3% answered “half-half”. Also, 39.5% of the respondents agreed that “sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that a person like me cannot really understand what is going on”, while 32.2% disagreed and 23.7% said “half-half”. The statistical test showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the percentage distributions of answers to the above three questions between 2023 and 2024.

The survey also listed some opinions on various functions and roles of Hong Kong political parties, with the respondents asked to indicate their degree of agreement with these opinions. When the respondents were asked if political parties in Hong Kong could effectively monitor the government, 42.2% disagreed, 28.2% agreed and 24.4% said “half-half”. 46.5% of the respondents disagreed that political parties in Hong Kong could represent the public’s range of views, while 26.3% agreed and 23.9% answered “half-half”. 49.5% of the respondents agreed that many policies could not proceed smoothly if political parties did not support the Hong Kong government, while 29.8% disagreed and 14.1% said “half-half”. The statistical analysis shows that there were statistically significant differences in the results of the first two questions about the functions and roles of political parties between 2023 and 2024. Firstly, the proportion of respondents agreeing that “political parties in Hong Kong can effectively monitor the government” in 2024 increased by 1.8 percentage points, while that responding “disagreed” decreased by 4.9 percentage points. Secondly, the proportion of respondents agreeing that “political parties in Hong Kong can represent different views of the public” in 2024 increased by 4.4 percentage points, while the proportion who disagreed decreased by 4.2 percentage points. However, regarding the statement that “many policies could not proceed smoothly if political parties do not support the Hong Kong government”, the statistical test showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the percentage distribution between 2023 and 2024.

The survey also asked respondents to indicate their degree of agreement with the statement that “the Hong Kong Legislative Council could effectively monitor the government”; results showed that 43.1% of respondents disagreed, 30.4% agreed and 22.3% answered “half-half”.

The survey employed a dual-frame sampling design that included both landline and mobile phone numbers. A total of 708 respondents aged 18 or above (landline: 163; mobile: 545) were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 55.8% (landline: 52.2%; mobile: 56.9%). The sampling error for the sample size of 708 is estimated at plus or minus 3.68 percentage points at 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.