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The MPFA today (11 March) released the December 2021 issue of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Statistical Digest (Statistical Digest), a quarterly report which covers key statistical data of the MPF System up to the end of December 2021, including scheme member enrolment, number of accounts, total MPF assets and investment performance.

The Statistical Digest quarterly report aims to enhance the information transparency of the MPF by showing the general situation and progress of the MPF System in different areas.

The key findings in the December 2021 issue of the Statistical Digest quarterly report are as follows:

• As at the end of December 2021, total MPF assets amounted to around $1.18 trillion, representing a year-on-year increase of 4%. Over $401.8 billion of the total MPF assets was investment returns, net of fees and charges. Total MPF assets have increased by 232% over the past 10 years. The annualized net rate of return was 4.3% since the inception of the MPF System in 2000, higher than the annualised inflation rate of 1.8% over the same period.
• Total MPF contributions amounted to $82.34 billion in 2021, of which $63.33 billion (77%) was mandatory contributions and $19.00 billion (23%) was voluntary contributions. Since the launch of tax-deductible voluntary contributions (TVC) in April 2019, the cumulative amount of TVC received reached $5.26 billion as at the end of December 2021, which is almost double the cumulative amount of TVC received as at the end of December 2020 ($2.71 billion). The number of TVC accounts also rose by around 31% from 44,000 as at the end of December 2020 to 58,000 as at the end of December 2021, reflecting an increase in popularity of TVC among scheme members.
• As at the end of December 2021, about 2.61 million MPF accounts had invested all or part of their assets according to the default investment strategy (DIS) or in the two constituent funds under the DIS, accounting for 25% of the total number of 10.48 million MPF accounts at the time. The total assets invested amounted to about $86.7 billion, accounting for 7% of total MPF assets.
• In the fourth quarter of 2021, the total number of claims for MPF on various grounds (including retirement and early retirement) was 60,600, a decrease of 5% from the previous quarter. The number of claims for MPF on the grounds of permanent departure (PD) from Hong Kong in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 8,700, representing a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 6%.

An MPFA spokesperson said that according to past statistics, the number of PD claims fluctuated from time to time. While the number of PD claims in 2021 was higher than those in the previous two years, it is on a par with the number in 2018 and lower than the number in 2017. Details are as follows:

The spokesperson added that since a scheme member may have more than one account under the MPF System and would make individual claims with the relevant trustees to withdraw his/her MPF from these accounts, the number of claimants involved is less than the number of claims. In addition, PD claimants may not be emigrants as PD claimants also include those returning to their places of origin (e.g. non-local employees who have completed their employment in Hong Kong) or moving to reside in the Mainland.

Moreover, the spokesperson encouraged scheme members who wish to enjoy tax deductions for salaries tax or personal assessment in the assessment year of 2021/22 to act promptly and make TVC before the end of March 2022.

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11 March 2022