Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow by 10.3 percent in 2024, says Lei Wai Nong (pictured in a file photo), the city’s Secretary for Economy and Finance.
He made the comments at a seminar on Monday for the city’s industrial and commercial sectors, hosted by the Macao Chamber of Commerce.
The official described the start of 2024 as very positive for the local economy, with the arrival of almost 5.3 million tourists.
Macau visitor arrivals in January more than doubled from a year earlier, to just above 2.86 million, according to official data. During the eight-day Chinese New Year festivities from February 10 to 17, the number of visitors to the city reached almost 1.36 million.
Mr Lei also noted that during this month’s holiday break, Macau’s hotel occupancy rate had reached 95.2 percent.
The secretary stated that for 2023, Macau’s real GDP growth had been 80.5 percent year-on-year. ‘Real GDP’ is an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year.
Macau’s 2023 official GDP data are due to be released on Friday. In the nine months to September 30 last year, Macau’s GDP surged by 77.7 percent year-on-year in real terms, according to data from the city’s Statistics and Census Service.
The International Monetary Fund said in an October forecast, it expected Macau’s real GDP to expand by 27.2 percent year-on-year in 2024.
