Macau’s visitor arrivals reached a total of 28,213,003 in 2023, representing an increase of 390% over 2022 and equivalent to around 71% of the 39.4 million arrivals in 2019.
Official figures were released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) on Monday afternoon, which also revealed December visitor arrivals of 2,943,930, up 13.9% compared to November and by 660% compared to the same period in 2022.
The December arrivals included 1,962,223 from mainland China, up 480% year-on-year.
Arrivals from Hong Kong amounted to 686,441, while international arrivals also climbed to 238,611, an increase of 7,220% year-on-year.
December’s arrivals also comprised 1,485,901 same-day visitors and 1,458,029 overnight visitors, with the average length of stay falling by 0.9 days to 1.2 days.
For FY23, mainland China contributed 19,049,147 of the total 28,213,003 arrivals, accounting for 67.5%. Hong Kong accounted for 25.5% with 7,195,801 arrivals, while international arrivals accounted for just 5.2% at 1,459,566.
Of those international arrivals, the Philippines accounted for the highest number of arrivals in 2023 with 314,161, followed by Korea with 204,604.
By channel of entry, 22,383,614 visitors entered Macau by land, up 320% year-on-year, followed by 3,699,014 by sea and 2,130,375 by air.