The Macau Economic Association (MEA) said it now expects Macau’s gross gaming revenue to exceed the MOP$130 billion (US$16.1 billion) predicted by the government at the start of the year.
According to a report released by MEA this week, average daily GGR rebounded to MOP$410 million (US$50.8 million) and MOP$490 million (US$60.7 billion) in March and April respectively, with an average daily visitor count of 99,000 and average daily GGR of MOP$640 million (US$79.2 million) during the Labour Day Golden Week – a record high since the start of the pandemic. It also noted that with the rapid improvement of Macau tourism, the economic situation has continued to improve. As a result, it has raised the economic sentiment index from May to July to “stable”.
“In the first four months, gaming revenue was close to MOP$50 billion, which is about half of the level before the pandemic, and has reached about 38% of the SAR government’s target for gross gaming revenue this year,” it said. “Based on current developments, the annual gross gaming revenue should be better than expected.”
In last year’s policy address, the Macau government estimated that Macau’s GGR would be MOP$130 billion in 2023. However, since the easing of border restrictions on 8 January, GGR has been rapidly increasing every month.
On 19 April, Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said he would maintain his estimate of MOP$130 billion in gross gaming revenue and that it was expected to reach that figure this year.
The MEA’s analysis and projections indicate that Macau returned to the “stable” level of the economic sentiment index for the first time since the official start of the pandemic in April 2020, and that the local economic sentiment index will continue to remain at the “stable” level from May to July.
