Macau’s gross gaming revenues appear to have normalized post-COVID in a trend that is now expected to continue for the remainder of 2025, according to latest Macau Gaming Monitor from financial research group CreditSights.
The assessment follows the release earlier this month of Macau’s gross gaming revenues for the month of February, which showed 6.8% year-on-year growth and 8.2% growth versus January.
While the sequential improvement was due to higher visitor arrivals in the second half of Chinese New Year and a longer tail, CreditSights said the figures “also highlight the normalizing GGR growth in the Macau gaming space.”
This, the research group added, is “a trend we expect to continue for the rest of 2025.”
Metrics worth keeping an eye on in the months ahead include the level of mainland Chinese visitation, which remains Macau’s core market, possible further increases in international visitor arrivals and the proportion of arrivals who are casino players.
In February, total visitor arrivals fell by 4% year-on-year due to a decline in mainland visitation, although this was offset by higher international visitor arrivals. Specifically, arrivals from South Korea grew by 42% year-on-year, from Japan and Thailand by 26% each and from Singapore by 25%.
“The February 25 data suggests that there was likely a higher proportion of casino goers within the visitor mix – and perhaps also from more affluent regions during the month – which helped boost the average GGR per visitor higher by 12% year-on-year to MOP$6,274 (US$783), CreditSights said.
Year-to-date GGR (January and February) of MOP$38.0 billion (US$4.74 billion) is up 0.5% year-on-year, slightly lagging the government’s forecast of 6% growth for FY25.