Hong Kong Open Data Scraper

Hong Kong Open Data Scraper

Scrape Hong Kong Open Data datasets from the official data.gov.hk portal, up to a million per run. Every dataset comes with its title, description, provider, category, and metadata. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Hong Kong's open data portal holds thousands of public datasets, but browsing it manually is slow and the official API needs registration. This Actor reads the public catalog directly, filtered by keyword or dataset ID, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

Who uses it	What they scrape Hong Kong Open Data for
Data journalists	Which government datasets are newly published or updated
Market researchers	What public data exists on a specific topic like transport or weather
App developers	Finding dataset IDs and metadata to integrate into their applications
Policy analysts	Tracking which departments release data on a given issue

What it does

This Actor collects Hong Kong Open Data datasets by catalog search or direct dataset ID, and returns each one as a flat row.

• 🔍 Keyword search: filter the catalog by any substring, case-insensitive, like 'weather' or 'traffic'.
• 📋 Full catalog walk: leave the search empty to collect every dataset, up to one million per run.
• 🎯 Single dataset fetch: get one record by its slug, e.g. aahk-team1-flight-info.
• 📦 Fixed schema: every row has the same fields, so you can merge runs without cleaning.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Hong Kong Open Data data

📊 Monitor new data releases.

A data journalist runs the Actor weekly with an empty search to list all datasets, then checks the publication dates to spot new releases.

🚌 Find transport datasets.

A mobility startup searches for 'bus' or 'ferry' to get dataset IDs and metadata, then downloads the actual files from the portal.

🌦️ Track weather data sources.

A climate researcher searches for 'rainfall' or 'temperature' to compile a list of available datasets for a study.

🏛️ Audit government transparency.

A policy analyst walks the full catalog to see which departments publish data and how often it is updated.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public portal directly, no registration or OAuth
Up to 1M rows	Collect the entire catalog in one run
Flat output	One row per dataset, ready for CSV or database import
Two modes	Browse with search or fetch a known ID

How it compares

This Actor focuses on Hong Kong government open data, while the competitors below scrape different sources like Google Maps or Instagram.

Feature	ParseForge	Google Maps Scraper	Instagram Scraper	Instagram Reel Scraper
Scrapes Hong Kong government open data	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Keyword search within catalog	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Fetch single dataset by ID	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
No API key required	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, XML	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a keyword search or a single dataset ID, and set a maximum number of datasets to collect per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "mode": "catalog",
  "searchQuery": "weather"
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200,
  "mode": "catalog",
  "searchQuery": "weather"
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.01733 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$1.73
1,000 results	$17.33
10,000 results	$173.30

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Hong Kong Open Data Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Hong Kong Open Data through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/data-gov-hk-hong-kong-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your searchQuery. It is a substring match, so try a shorter or more general term. Also ensure mode is set to catalog.

Why does dataset mode return nothing?

Make sure the datasetId is correct. You can find valid IDs by running catalog mode with a keyword.

The run stops before collecting all datasets.

Increase maxItems. The default is 10, but you can set it up to 1,000,000.

Can I get the actual data files?

This Actor only collects metadata. Use the download URLs in the output to fetch the files separately.

The output has missing fields for some datasets.

Not all datasets have every metadata field. The portal may omit some fields for certain entries.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need an API key or registration?	No. The Actor reads the public data.gov.hk catalog pages directly, so no key or login is required.
What is the difference between catalog mode and dataset mode?	Catalog mode walks the full list of datasets, optionally filtered by a keyword. Dataset mode fetches one specific dataset by its ID slug.
How do I find a dataset ID?	You can run catalog mode with a keyword to see matching datasets and their IDs, or copy the slug from the dataset's URL on data.gov.hk.
Can I scrape the entire catalog?	Yes. Set mode to catalog, leave searchQuery empty, and set maxItems to a high number like 1000000.
What data does each dataset row include?	Each row includes the dataset's title, description, provider, category, and other metadata fields as returned by the portal.
Does this Actor download the actual data files?	No, it collects metadata about datasets. To get the actual files, use the download URLs provided in the metadata.
Can I schedule this Actor to run regularly?	Yes, you can schedule it on the Apify platform to run daily, weekly, or at any interval.
What export formats are supported?	You can export the results to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset.
Is there a limit on how many datasets I can collect?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 per run. The actual number depends on the catalog size.
Does the search support Chinese characters?	Yes, the search is case-insensitive and matches substrings, so you can search in English or Chinese.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Hong Kong Government. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.