(Updated on November 1, 2023)

For the seventh consecutive year, HelperChoice, a leading Hong Kong based platform and ethical employment agency, has analysed the data of 2,794 job ads posted on its website between August 2022 and August 2023, to determine in which districts foreign domestic workers can expect to earn the most and the least.

This study was carried out as the Hong Kong Labour Department announced the new minimum allowable wage (MAW) and food allowance for foreign domestic workers. The New Minimum Allowable Wage was set to HK$4,870 and Food Allowance to HK$1,236. As a reminder, the salary had previously been frozen during the pandemic between 2019 and 2022.

A clear increase of the average salary paid by employers

This year, HelperChoice’s annual salary survey in Hong Kong shows an increase in the average salary offered by employers, reaching HK$5,543. According to HelperChoice data, this is a 4.85% increase compared to the previous study in 2022. 

This increase is the most significant recorded so far, and represents an average salary offered by HelperChoice clients of HK$813 above minimum salary, which is currently set at HK$4,870. 

Mahee Leclerc, General Manager of HelperChoice, explains: “We have noticed an increase in the salary offered by employers post covid. From our experience at the agency, families are willing to offer higher salaries for the convenience of hiring a domestic worker already based in Hong Kong and finishing their contracts. Those workers have previous experience in the city, can delay their leave back to their home country if mutually agreed, and processing their papers is easier and faster. Hiring them can range from HK$700, if done by the family directly, to HK$2,900+, if processed by an agency. While broken, terminated and overseas contracts will cost on average HK$10,000. We also notice the aftermath of Covid travel restrictions during which employers spent a lot on bringing overseas workers. They want to avoid the hassle of long visa procedures and hidden agency costs by unethical players”. 

While the average salary increased, it is important to keep in mind that most employers do not offer a food allowance on top of it. According to HelperChoice data, 78% of employers prefer to provide food directly.

Regarding other expenses (sim card, octopus card, other…), 44% of employers do not provide extra allowance, 43% allow a budget of less than HK$500 and 12% a monthly budget of more than HK$500. 

Overall, 67% of the employers from HelperChoice platform consider the helper’s salaries as reasonable, while 22% consider it as too expensive. Within the same group, 61% of employers hope to pay the same salary next year, and 13% will pay more.

Average Domestic Helper Salaries By Districts 2023

Following last year’s trend, HelperChoice found a narrower range in the domestic helpers’ salaries as compared to previous years, according to their employment location. Districts which historically paid higher salaries such as Central & Western are now paying equal range or lower. 

This year, the district with the highest salary is Wong Tai Sin, with an average offer of HK$5,922 per month. The other districts with highest salaries are: Southern (HK$5,724), Wan Chai (HK$5,719), Tsuen Wan (HK$5,679) and Yuen Long (HK$5,663). 

On the other hand, the five districts offering the lowest salaries this year are: Central & Western and the Islands (HK$5,400), Yau Tsim Mong (HK$5,383), Kowloon City (HK$5,367), and North (HK$5,333). 

Employers in these areas offer an average salary of HK$5,377, which is only HK$365 difference with the average salary of the highest districts, indicating that the overall average salaries are still getting more centralized among 18 districts.

Living arrangements

Under the Hong Kong law, domestic workers have to live with their employers as part of the live-in rule. According to HelperChoice data this year, 72.47% of employers offer a private room for their employees. Followed by 15.43%, a shared room with a kid, 8.11% shared with a co-worker and 3.99% with another adult of the same sex, such as an elderly. 

Press contact:

Mahee LECLERC – mahee@helperchoice.com – +852 9132 3115

About HelperChoice

Founded in 2012 by two French banking executives in Hong Kong, HelperChoice has become the leading platform connecting foreign domestic workers and families in Asia. HelperChoice was set up as a social enterprise, and its impact was recognised by many organisations, including the International Labour Organisation. HelperChoice has been acquired by Yoopies in 2019. With this acquisition, the European-based group Yoopies became the global leader outside of the United States in domestic jobs recruitment.