1st November 2026 – (Hong Kong) Three local Chinese-language dailies are lifting their cover prices by HK$3 this month, with Ming Pao already selling at HK$15 from today after a jump from HK$12, and Hong Kong Economic Journal and Hong Kong Economic Times due to follow tomorrow.
From 2nd November, Hong Kong Economic Journal will move from HK$15 to HK$18, while Hong Kong Economic Times rises from HK$12 to HK$15 — matching Ming Pao’s new street price. The staggered start means newsstands will carry mixed tags over the weekend before all three higher rates are in force.
It is the first such round for these titles in two years. The previous Chinese-newspaper lift came in November 2024, when Ming Pao, Sing Pao and Hong Kong Economic Times climbed from HK$10 to HK$12, and Hong Kong Economic Journal went from HK$12 to HK$15. Oriental Daily News had moved a month earlier, also settling at HK$12.
Newsagents at that time predicted overall newspaper sales would fall by about 20 per cent after the rises — a reminder that cover-price changes land hardest on casual street buyers rather than long-term subscribers. Whether this month’s HK$3 step triggers a similar squeeze will show up in November and December rack counts.
For regular readers the arithmetic is simple but sharp. Someone who bought Ming Pao at HK$10 before the 2024 increase now pays HK$15, a 50 per cent climb across two rounds. Hong Kong Economic Journal buyers who paid HK$12 two years ago will face HK$18 from tomorrow, another clear step for a finance-heavy title that already sat above the mass-market pack.
Hong Kong Economic Times, long priced in step with Ming Pao through the last cycle, again tracks that paper to HK$15, keeping the two general broadsheets aligned while the Journal pulls further ahead at HK$18. Sing Pao and Oriental Daily News were not named in this month’s notices, leaving their HK$12 tags from the earlier wave unchanged for now.
Publishers have not spelt out cost breakdowns in the brief public notices that accompanied the change, but the pattern mirrors 2024: several titles move together by the same dollar step rather than one paper testing the market alone. For vendors, that means reprinting price cards, updating change drawers and fielding the familiar Monday morning grumble from customers who last noticed the tag two winters ago.