Nearly 79% of low-income elderly people in Hong Kong admitted physical or mental suffering during periods of extreme heat, while many were unaware of heatstroke risks and the government support available, revealed a Greenpeace survey.
The survey, conducted in June and July, revealed that 78.7% of the 127 elderly respondents reported “at least one form of heat-related discomfort affecting their health, mood or sleep”, the environmental group indicated in a statement published on the portal on Monday.
The study also concluded that there is a general lack of awareness about heat stroke prevention and signs of “energy poverty”.
More than 70% of respondents underestimate the risks, with some believing that “staying at home means there is no risk of heat stroke” and others who “were unaware of the dangers”.
Because of a lack of cooling equipment or the inability to bear high electricity bills, 36% said they “never” or “rarely” turned on air conditioning during heat waves.
Additionally, 5.5% of respondents said they had been hospitalized in the past year due to the heat.
“High temperatures are a ‘silent killer’ for the elderly, who, due to the decline of their physiological functions and, in some cases, chronic health conditions, are considered a high-risk group,” Greenpeace activist Prudence Yeung said in the same statement.
Between 2015 and 2024, the number of hospitalizations and deaths related to heat stroke among patients aged 65 or older rose 16-fold, from four to 68, according to Yeung, citing official data obtained by Greenpeace from the Hong Kong Department of Health.
Yeung also criticized the government of the Chinese semi-autonomous region for not yet having formulated adaptation policies to address the growing heat-related risks for the elderly, adding that there is “a lack of interdepartmental coordination mechanisms”.
The survey revealed that almost 80% of the elderly had not received any heat-related community services, “including home visits, education on heat stroke prevention and the provision of cooling items,” in the last two years.
Hong Kong recorded on August 9 the highest temperature since records began in 1884, reaching 36.9 °C at the headquarters of the meteorological agency, whose measurements serve as the city’s reference.
According to scientists, climate change is driving more frequent and more intense extreme weather phenomena worldwide, including heat waves.
As in mainland China and the neighboring region of Macau, Hong Kong’s population is aging rapidly.
In 2025, Hong Kong registered about 31,100 births, a 15.3% drop and the lowest value since official records began in the former British colony in 1961.
