HONG KONG — For generations, Hong Kong’s prestigious international schools exclusively educated the children of wealthy Western expatriates. Today, placement in those schools is increasingly competitive and enrollment fees can exceed $1 million, making them some of the most expensive private schools in the world.

Recent changes to the city’s demography — prompted by Chinese politics and global markets — have driven up tuitions and resulted in a dramatic shift in the complexion of the city’s schools: An increasing number of ethnic Chinese students are now enrolled in international schools, and many more white students are occupying desks in Cantonese-language public schools.

“Private schools here are bloody expensive you know, and we have twins,” said James Runciman, a Briton, shop owner and father of two 6-year-olds who are set to begin second grade in September. “We just can’t afford to send our kids to these schools,” he said of the private international schools, which replicate the curriculums of Western countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada and France.

As students return to school next month, there will be more white students in public schools than at any time in the city’s history, a telling indicator of how Hong Kong is both shaking off its colonial past and losing its draw as a magnet for the West’s wealthiest workers.