Hong Kong vs Taipei for couples
Hong Kong and Taipei, in Taiwan, are about 810 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Hong Kong leads on internet speed and residency rules; Taipei on cost, safety and healthcare.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Taipei is cheaper: we estimate about €3,362 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,423 in Hong Kong. That is €1,061 a month, or 24%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Hong Kong and Taiwan both sit in our low to medium tax tier.
Climate
Both average 23°C over the year. Hong Kong is drier, with about 1,944 mm of rain a year against 2,734 mm in Taipei (29% less).
Safety
Taipei is the safer pick: Taiwan scores 82 out of 100 on safety, 4 points above Hong Kong (78).
Healthcare
Taipei has the stronger healthcare: Taiwan scores 86 out of 100 on healthcare, 8 points above Hong Kong (78).
Internet
Hong Kong has faster home internet: about 250 Mbps median fixed download against about 170 Mbps in Taipei.
Language
Main languages: Cantonese, English in Hong Kong; Mandarin in Taipei. English proficiency is rated the same in both: some English.
Residency and visas
Long-term residency is easier to obtain in Hong Kong (comparatively open) than in Taiwan (possible, with conditions). Taiwan has a self-funded route from about $5,100 a month in income; we track no income-based route for Hong Kong. For short visits, 147 of 198 passports can enter Hong Kong visa-free and 67 can enter Taiwan.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts internet speed (250 Mbps against 170 Mbps) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Hong Kong comes out ahead. If the other cares more about cost (€3,362 against €4,423 a month), safety (82 against 78 out of 100) and healthcare (86 against 78 out of 100), Taipei does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: whoever minds rain will prefer Hong Kong (1,944 mm a year against 2,734 mm).
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