Hong Kong is a free port with almost no duty on anything, and two conspicuous exceptions: cigarettes and vapes.
- The tobacco allowance is 19 cigarettes. That is not a typo - a single opened packet is inside the limit and a sealed pack of 20 is not, and the fine for an undeclared carton runs into thousands of dollars.
- Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco may not be imported at all. The ban has covered personal possession in transit since 2022, and vapes are seized at the airport and at the land crossings.
- Since 30 April 2026 it is also a criminal offence to carry or use one in any public place, punishable by a fine up to HKD 50,000 and six months in prison. That is a change from an import rule to a possession rule, and it applies to visitors exactly as it does to residents.
- Alcohol is 1 litre of spirits over 30 %. Wine and beer carry no duty at all, so there is effectively no limit on them.
- Almost everything else enters duty-free. Hong Kong charges duty on four categories only: liquor, tobacco, hydrocarbon oil and methyl alcohol.
- HKD 120,000 or more in cash or bearer instruments must be declared on arrival, and the same rule applies to the boundary crossings with the mainland.
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