Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 4.7 percent year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter this year, according to data from the city’s Statistics and Census Service. “The overall economic output corresponded to 87.3 percent of its size in the same quarter of 2019,” said the statistics bureau in a report published on Monday.
Third-quarter exports of services for the period rose by 1.3 percent year-on-year, with exports of gaming services up 11.2 percent from a year earlier. But exports of other tourism services fell by 14.5 percent from the prior-year period, showed the data.
Gaming and tourism services in Macau are included in exports when calculating the city’s GDP. That is in order to reflect spending by tourists in the city’s casinos and other tourism-focused businesses.
For the first nine months of 2024, Macau’s GDP expanded by 11.5 percent year-on-year in real terms, to MOP301.0 billion (US$37.54 billion).
“The overall economic output returned to 86.3 percent of the level in the same period in 2019, with GDP surpassing MOP300.0 billion again since the first three quarters of 2019,” said the report.
It added: “In view of rising number of visitor arrivals to Macau during the peak summer season, exports of services grew by 11.4 percent year-on-year in real terms in the first three quarters, of which exports of gaming services went up by 28.4 percent.”
Exports of other tourism services in the nine months to September 30 fell by 6.1 percent “owing to the high comparison base in the same period last year, but increased by nearly 15 percent compared to the same period in 2019,” observed the statistics bureau.
The report said private consumption expenditure in the first three quarters of 2024 “sustained solid growth,” at 5.8 percent year-on-year, “driven by an increase in the income of residents amid the positive local economic situation and the improving job market”.
Private investment “showed substantial growth,” with private equipment investment and construction investment expanding by 31.5 percent and 11.6 percent respectively during the nine-month period.
In October, the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for Macau’s economic growth in 2024 by 3.3 percentage points. The institution now expects Macau’s GDP to grow by 10.6 percent this year, down from a previous estimate of 13.9 percent made in May.
