The study, which was conducted by one of the city’s biggest youth organisations, also showed that some 16 per cent of those who wanted to leave the city for work said they had no intention of ever coming back, while another 12.6 per cent said they would only consider returning after securing a foreign nationality, reports The South China Morning Post.

The online poll, released on Sunday, comes at a time when some foreign countries are easing their immigration schemes for Hongkongers in response to the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing, which some say will curb the rights and freedoms of residents, the newspaper reported.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed over to China in 1997, and the Basic Law preserves its autonomy as a Special Administrative Region under the principle of “one country, two systems”.