• Almost 60% of survey respondents say increased costs and reduced profitability is a challenge, with about half finding cash flow and access to funding a challenge.
• To counter these issues, many continue to implement a wide range of measures, including the use of AI to support business productivity.
• While AI is having a positive impact on Hong Kong SMEs, risks loom, with the proportion of respondents concerned about AI-associated threats increasing.
• Fortunately, awareness of cyber risks is on the rise, as is the proportion of Hong Kong SMEs purchasing insurance as a means of protecting their businesses from these threats.

HONG KONG, Feb. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — QBE Insurance today announced the findings from this year’s QBE Hong Kong SME Survey. Conducted between November 2024 and January 2025, 600 decision-makers gave their views on a wide range of business risks and opportunities, including the impact of artificial intelligence and cyber risks, and their appetite for insurance digitalisation.

Notably, today’s business challenges are being felt by many more Hong Kong SMEs than in the past. The percentage of businesses experiencing increased costs and lower profitability dramatically rose from 40% last year to almost 60% this year. Similarly, about half are challenged with both talent and labour shortages, as well as financial issues such as cash flow shortfalls and limited access to funding, compared to 39% and 34% respectively last year. The proportion of respondents experiencing such challenges rose across eight different categories year-on-year.

Echoing these findings, the economic outlook for the next 12 months is less positive than a year ago. Some 64% of respondents believe this year will be better economically than the past 12 months, versus 70% last year. Among several drivers of this viewpoint, 74% of today’s SMEs are experiencing deteriorating investor and customer confidence, up from just 63% last year. Survey respondents are equally as pessimistic about the performance of their respective companies: in the 2024 survey, 70% of respondents believed sales during the ensuing year would be better, compared to 65% in this year’s edition.

“Despite today’s difficult conditions, businesses are rising to the challenge,” observed Andex Fung, Head of SME Segment, Asia at QBE. “Over the past few years, Hong Kong SMEs have become more resilient to the myriad of challenges ahead of them, and continue to roll out measures designed to meet these. Three-quarters of Hong Kong SMEs have taken cost control measures, while 45% of respondents have streamlined their operations, and 42% have diversified their offerings. We believe these actions underscore the ability of local businesses to respond and adapt.”

AI adopted in business productivity, despite looming cyber risks

Increasingly, Hong Kong SMEs are leveraging AI when it comes to business productivity. This year, 57% of respondents said they were using the technology, up from 55% 12 months ago. Despite this, 57% also don’t believe AI will replace jobs in their respective companies any time soon.

While SMEs are upbeat about the current and future trajectory of AI, they are also wary of the future risks the technology poses. Some 47% said it presents a threat to business activity, up from 31% last year. The top AI risks include privacy issues and loss of jobs, cited by 69% of respondents; with 52% of SMEs having security concerns. Regarding the likelihood of AI replacing human roles, the majority of respondents only expect to see this in three areas — customer service, human resources, and sales and marketing — but not until after 2031.

Awareness of cyber risks overall is notably on the rise. Over half of SMEs say they are now fully informed of these, with 43% saying they are somewhat informed, up from 48% and 41% respectively. Despite this, the proportion of businesses experiencing a cyber event rose from 30% in 2024 to 33% this year. This increase might be the result of Hong Kong SMEs retracting on cyber protection activities. This year’s survey saw a fall in the proportion of businesses using cyber security solutions and software (down from 62% to 60%), staff training (45% to 43%), and cyber resilience consultants (42% to 36%).

While businesses may be reducing investment in these areas, they are however spending in other areas. The percentage of Hong Kong SMEs hiring dedicated cyber security staff rose from 43% to 49% over the past year, while those purchasing cyber insurance also rose, from 39% to 43%. The top three drivers for purchasing coverage this year include paying for legal services, hiring security or forensics experts, and covering the costs associated data breaches.

Of the 62% of respondents who do not have any form of cyber insurance, 63% would consider purchasing it, while 11% would categorically not consider it. Potential reasons include cost; the fact that their business doesn’t store data; and the perceived low impact of such events on their businesses.

“It’s heartening to see Hong Kong SMEs heighten both their knowledge as well as protection measures against cyber-attacks. The interdependency across sectors and businesses makes such risks unavoidable and the increased awareness of local SMEs demonstrates the role insurers like us can play in furthering their know-how and supporting their risk management in the current cyber risk landscape,” added Mr. Fung.

Insurance digitalisation sees a shift back towards offline channels

When purchasing insurance, whether cyber or any other form of coverage, customers prefer an experience that combines in-person and digital touchpoints. Overall, 68% of Hong Kong SMEs prefer offline channels (2024: 57%), versus 32% who prefer online (2024: 43%).

85% of SMEs prefer an insurance package tailored to their unique needs, covering multiple business risks, while 15% want individual products that cover specific business risks. “Although SMEs’ preference for online insurance channels has declined, our survey shows that a higher percentage of SMEs are using digital platforms for key touchpoints such as research, payment, inquiries, and claims,” noted Lei Yu, CEO for North Asia.

A notable finding from this year’s survey is a shift away from online towards offline channels, with a decline in preference for both online aggregators (2025: 16%; 2024: 22%) and direct online platforms (2025: 16%; 2024: 21%). While reliance on offline, in-person channels among brokers (2025: 30%; 2024: 22%) and banks (2025: 18% ; 2024: 14%) is up 8% and 4% respectively.

“Through a combination of various digital initiatives, combined with the high servicing levels of our intermediaries, we offer an omnichannel purchasing experience that leverages the best of both worlds — creating a highly personalised buying experience that enables customers to acquire holistic insurance solutions that meets their unique needs,” said Ms. Yu.

Appendix: Hong Kong SAR-Singapore SME survey: Business outlook summary

For results of a similar survey conducted with Singapore SMEs, please visit this link.

About QBE Hong Kong

QBE Hong Kong is part of QBE Insurance Group and has been serving Hong Kong for more than a century. Today, QBE Hong Kong operations include QBE Hongkong & Shanghai Insurance Limited, QBE General Insurance (Hong Kong) Limited, and QBE Mortgage Insurance (Asia) Limited. As a leading general insurer, QBE Hong Kong provides a comprehensive range of non-life insurance solutions for both business and personal customers. QBE Hong Kong operates through an extensive network of professional insurance agents and brokers.

To learn more about QBE Hong Kong, please visit www.qbe.com/hk

• Two-thirds of survey respondents say increased costs and reduced profitability is a challenge, with over half seeing reduced customer spending and financial challenges.
• To meet these issues, most are rolling out a variety of measures, including the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster business productivity.
• While AI is having a positive impact, risks loom, say one-third of respondents. Exacerbating these concerns, Singapore SMEs are less informed about cyber risks, with knowledge in this area declining over the past year.
• SMEs are spending less on cyber insurance despite a rise in the number of cyber events experienced by these businesses.

SINGAPORE, Feb. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — QBE Insurance today announced key findings from its annual QBE Singapore SME Survey. Conducted between December 2024 and January 2025, 600 decision-makers gave their views on a wide range of business risks and opportunities, including the impact of artificial intelligence and cyber risks, and their readiness for insurance digitalisation.

Foremost among this year’s findings is how today’s top business challenges are being acutely felt by many more Singapore SMEs than before. This year, two-thirds (66%) of survey respondents find increased costs and reduced profitability their number one business challenge, versus just half last year. Likewise, 56% are concerned with growing sales and reduced customer spending today, compared to 40% 12 months ago. Regarding company finances in areas like managing cash flow and access to funding, 51% are experiencing difficulties, in comparison to 36% found in 2024’s survey.

Accordingly, the economic outlook for the next 12 months is less positive than a year ago. Only 52% of respondents believe this year will be better than the past 12 months, versus 60% last year. Some 70% feel that increasing operating costs will impact the economy negatively, while 60% feel rising inflation and a GST increase will also impact the economy. SME executives are similarly downbeat about the performance of their respective businesses: in the 2024 survey, 62% of respondents believed sales during the ensuing year would be better, compared to 55% this year.

“While there is much concern over the state of the economy and their own prospects in the future, businesses aren’t standing still,” said Shun Quan Goh, Head, Underwriting, Retail & SME, QBE Singapore. “The proportion of respondents taking action to tackle today’s conditions has increased. This is notably the case with cost control, diversification of customer base, and business streamlining — some 70%, 49%, and 40% of respondents having acted on these fronts to ensure business viability.”

SMEs adopting AI in business productivity drive

Over half (52%) of respondents said AI has a significant impact on business productivity, up from 49% a year earlier. Of note, 55% of survey respondents don’t believe AI will replace jobs in their respective companies.  

While SMEs are upbeat about the current and future trajectory of AI, they are also wary of the risks the technology poses. Some 34% said it presents a threat to business activity — up from 30% last year.

Concern for the top AI risks among SME professionals is significantly more widespread than in previous years. The threat of AI replacing jobs was cited by 68% of respondents, versus just 17% last year — around 25% of Singapore SMEs foresee jobs in customer service, finance and accounting to be fully replaced by AI within three years, while 22% expect roles in routine manual work and labour-intensive tasks to be fully replaced after six years. In addition, 66% of SME leaders have AI-related privacy concerns in contrast just 10% in 2024; and 51% are anxious about AI-linked security breaches, compared to 15% a year earlier.

While awareness of the pitfalls of AI is on the rise, knowledge of cyber risks is declining: just 40% of Singaporean SMEs believe they are fully informed of the risks, down from 47% a year earlier. This may be one reason behind the proportion of businesses experiencing a slight increase in cyber events, from 25% to 27% year-on-year.

SMEs are actively seeking solutions to meet cyber threats across a wide range of measures. However, these don’t include insurance, where the proportion of businesses covered has dropped from 38% to 36%. Of the 68% of respondents who do not have any form of cyber insurance, 51% would consider purchasing it, while 15% would categorically not consider it. The top reasons behind this stance include cost; the fact that their business doesn’t store data; and the perceived low impact of such events on their businesses.

“While local SMEs are aware of their knowledge gap on cyber risks, they are still not compelled to purchase insurance, on the basis of cost control. Though a worrying trend, given increased technology dependencies, we believe insurers like us can still add value to the SME community by providing tools that assist them with risk mitigation in the current cyber risk landscape,” added Mr. Goh.

An omnichannel customer experience is still preferred

Despite cyber concerns, an omnichannel customer journey that fuses offline and online touchpoints remains the preferred purchasing option by Singapore SMEs. In line with last year’s survey findings, some 65% prefer buying offline (2024: 66%), while 35% prefer online (2024: 34%). In the offline space, use of agents as the preferred channel is up (2025: 29%; 2024: 27%), while the use of broker (2025: 13%; 2024: 16%) and bank (2025: 10%; 2024: 14%) channels are both down. In the online area, online-direct is up (2025: 22%; 2024: 18%), yet the online-aggregator channel is down (2025: 13%; 2024: 16%).

Notably, reliance on agents and brokers across the end-to-end insurance buying journey has increased across all touch points, except when asking questions. As such, 73% of SMEs prefer an insurance package tailored to their unique needs, covering multiple business risks — while 27% want individual products that cover specific business risks.

“Businesses that are able to successfully upskill their current workforces with the abilities to operate and oversee AI will reap the many rewards the technology offers now and in the future. The proliferation of AI is not about replacing people with machines, but rather, about adapting our workforces to meet this new paradigm,” said Ronak Shah, CEO of QBE Singapore. “That SMEs continue to embrace an omnichannel buying experience underscores how policyholders acknowledge that the future of conducting business is humans harnessing technology – transforming both insurance and customer experiences, and the risks as well as benefits associated with its usage.”

Appendix: Singapore-Hong Kong SAR SME survey: Business outlook summary

For results of a similar survey conducted with Hong Kong SMEs, please visit this link.

About QBE Singapore

Present in Singapore for more than a century, QBE Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a general insurance and reinsurance company, is the Republic’s oldest registered Australian company.

Established in 1891, QBE Singapore is a trusted provider of specialist expertise and professional insurance services. Our insurance specialists develop leading-edge products that are client-focused, delivering cover tailored to deal with everything from complex risks to more simple and straightforward insurance needs.

QBE Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd is part of the QBE Insurance Group which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and headquartered in Sydney. To learn more about QBE Singapore, please visit www.qbe.com/sg