Industrial trade rises 18.2% in Oct–Nov 2025, report says

Trade rose, but warehouse rents fell in the industrial sector.

The region’s industrial sector recorded an aggregate trade increase of 18.2% year on year in October and November, totalling $9.8 trillion, up 14.1% YoY, according to a report from CBRE Hong Kong.

Whilst airfreight volume increased by 4.6% YoY, container throughput declined by 9.5% during the same period.

Leasing momentum showed slight improvement quarter on quarter, with 1.1 million sq. ft. of new leases in Q4 2025, bringing the annual total to 2.9 million sq. ft. – 11% lower than in 2024.

Key deals included a third-party logistics provider leasing 275,100 sq. ft. at Goodman Interlink in Tsing Yi; Cainiao Supply Chain taking 170,000 sq. ft. at Cainiao Smart Gateway in Chek Lap Kok; and SJ Logistics leasing 123,600 sq. ft. of the G2000 Warehouse Building in Fanling.

Warehouse vacancy also hit a record high of 13%, a slight 1.3 percentage-point rise QoQ and a 5.5 percentage-point increase year on year, marking the sharpest rise on record.

This led warehouse rents to fall by 2.0% QoQ, bringing the full-year rental decline to 8.4%, the steepest annual fall since 2001.

“Hong Kong’s industrial and logistics sector demonstrated resilience in 2025, supported by healthy trade growth despite challenging market conditions. Leasing momentum was modest as operators focused on cost-saving strategies, but quality assets held firm,” Executive Director, Head of Industrial & Logistics, CBRE Hong Kong, Samuel Lai, said.

He also anticipates a gradual improvement in leasing demand, with emerging sectors and pre-leasing for high-specification facilities enabling flight-to-quality as the main driving forces.

“We expect gradual improvement in leasing demand and more activity from the emerging sectors. Warehouse rents are expected to edge down within a 5% range in 2026,” Lai added.