But nearly half of SMEs forecast higher raw material bills adding strain to operating expense.

Hong Kong’s financing and insurance industry are amongst the most active SME users of artificial intelligence (AI), according to the Standard Chartered Hong Kong SME Leading Business Index for the first quarter of 2026 released by the Hong Kong Productivity Council.

The survey shows that 62% of firms in the sector have already used or plan to use AI tools in daily operations within the next year, making it one of the highest adoption rates across all industries, behind only information and communications.

Amongst insurance and finance SMEs that are already using AI, 47% are paying for commercial AI tools.

The most commonly used applications are chatbots and text or document processing tools, including optical character recognition, followed by data analysis and prediction systems.

Nearly 60% of AI-using SMEs across all sectors said they are using more than one type of AI tool, indicating broader digitalisation of workflows such as customer service, claims processing, document review, and risk analysis.

The survey also found that 75% of SMEs that have adopted AI expanded its use in 2025 compared with 2024.

This included rolling out AI to more business functions, increasing the number of staff using the technology, and adopting a wider range of tools.

Looking ahead, 27% of AI-using SMEs said they plan to increase investment in AI over the next year.

Overall business sentiment amongst Hong Kong SMEs remained cautious in the first quarter, with the headline index at 43.9.

Cost pressures are rising, with 21% of SMEs expecting higher staff salaries and 46% anticipating higher raw material costs, which could also affect insurers’ operating expenses and pricing strategies.

The survey was conducted between November and December 2025 and covered 819 local SMEs.