The gaming sector was unsurprisingly the main growth driver for Macau’s gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year.
Official data released on Friday shows exports of gaming services posted a real growth rate of 13.0 percent in the first three months of this year in comparison with one year before. The city’s GDP expanded by 12.4 percent in real terms.
Gaming services reached MOP101.7 billion (US$12.7 billion) in nominal patacas (i.e., excluding inflation), while Macau’s overall GDP stood at MOP115.4 billion.
Gaming services are officially labelled as service exports, as they reflect expenditure made by visitors in the Macau market.
The ongoing construction of seven casino resort venues in Cotai also helped to push Macau’s GDP up, as it contributed significantly to a jump of 39.8 percent year-on-year in private investment during the first quarter.
While impressive by international standards, the real growth rate of Macau’s GDP for the first quarter represented a slowdown in quarter-on-quarter terms. In the fourth quarter of last year, the city’s economy grew 14.3 percent year-on-year.
