Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 38.8 percent year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter this year, according to data from the city’s Statistics and Census Service.
The increase was “on account of positive factors such as the relaxation of border control measures, the full resumption of personnel exchanges between Hong Kong and Macau, and the resumption of group tours from mainland China to Macau,” said the statistics bureau in a report published on Thursday.
The figures showed that exports of services in the three months to March 31 rose by 71.5 percent year-on-year. Of those, exports of gaming services and other tourism services surged by 100.0 percent and 72.9 percent year-on-year respectively.
Gaming 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.
Macau’s domestic demand increased by 1.6 percent year-on-year, mainly driven by government final consumption expenditure. The economic output of Macau recovered to 66.4 percent of its level in the first quarter of 2019, the last trading year before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Following the relaxation in early January of Covid-19-related travel restrictions, the number of visitor arrivals to Macau in the first quarter of 2023 grew by 163.7 percent year-on-year, to 4.95 million. The first-quarter tally corresponded to 48.4 percent of the visitor volume in the same quarter of 2019, according to official data.
Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) stood at MOP34.64 billion (US$4.29 billion) in the quarter to March 31, up 94.9 percent on the prior-year period. Casino GGR reached MOP14.72 billion in April, up 15.6 percent month-on-month, the best monthly performance since January 2020.
Macau’s GDP fell by 26.8 percent year-on-year in full-year 2022, following an 18.0-percent growth in 2021.
Macau’s GDP could soar by up to 44.1 percent this year, according to the “Macroeconomic Forecast for Macao 2023”, published in February by the University of Macau. Such sharp increase would be linked to a strong rebound in the city’s tourism and casino sectors, according to the research.
