Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) grew by 9.6 percent month-on-month, to MOP$16.66 billion ($2.07 billion) in July, according to data released Tuesday by the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).
The July result was up 4,083 percent year-on-year. The extreme increase was due to the low basis in July 2022, when the city suffered shutdowns.
The July result was the highest monthly performance since January 2020, exceeding the May GGR of MOP15.57 billion ($1.93 billion).
Macau’s casino GGR stood at MOP96.80 billion ($12 billion) for the first seven months of the year, an increase of 263 percent from a year earlier. The tally represents only 56 percent of the GGR of MOP174 billion ($21.6 billion) generated from January to July 2019.
In the city’s chief executive’s 2023 policy address last November, the Macau government estimated 2023 gross gaming revenue at MOP130 billion ($16.25 billion).
Although Macau’s tourism recovery continues, the government insists on its budget estimate.
According to data from the government, Macau had a daily average of over 80,000 visitor arrivals in the summer period and had an aggregate of 11.6 million visitor arrivals in 1H23. The Government expects 24 million tourists by the end of the year.
Macau’s GGR scenario has changed drastically since January 8th of this year, after the government canceled most of its travel restrictions, dropping all testing requirements for inbound visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and later for other countries.
A strong rebound in visitor arrivals was driven by tourists from mainland China and Hong Kong, Macau authorities stated earlier that they will be more focused on the overseas market.
