Visitor arrivals in Macao experienced significant growth in 2025, with the total number climbing to 40,069,360, an increase of 14.7 percent over the previous year and a new arrivals record for the SAR.
Figures show that this substantial rise was largely fuelled by same-day visitors, whose numbers jumped by 24.6 percent to 23,524,943. In contrast, overnight visitors saw a more modest rise of 3.1 percent, totalling 16,544,417.
[See more: Free bus ticket offer renewed as Macao seeks to lure more foreign tourists]
The growing proportion of same-day tourists caused the overall average length of stay to shorten by 0.1 days year-on-year, landing at 1.1 days. The duration of stay for same-day visitors remained steady at 0.2 days, as did the duration for overnight visitors at 2.3 days.
Domestic arrivals
The Chinese mainland remained Macao’s principal source of tourists, with arrivals increasing by 18.5 percent to 29,017,164 for the year. This included a 25.7 percent rise in visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (15,440,699).
Visitors from the nine mainland cities within the Greater Bay Area also rose considerably, up 23.7 percent to 14,828,192, with an exceptional 58.1 percent surge in arrivals from Zhuhai. Arrivals from Hong Kong (7,300,582) and Taiwan (996,140) increased by 1.7 percent and 19.4 percent, respectively.
International markets
The total number of international visitors grew by 13.7 percent year-on-year, reaching 2,755,474. Strong performance was seen across key markets:
- Northeast Asia: Visitors from the Republic of Korea (547,638) and Japan (159,455) grew by 11.3 percent and 26.1 percent.
- Southeast Asia: Thailand saw the largest increase in the region, with visitor numbers rising by 38.1 percent (185,963). The Philippines (540,284), Indonesia (208,043), and Malaysia (188,977) saw increases of 9.5 percent, 13.6 percent, and 3.9 percent, while Singapore (117,165) was the only market to register a decrease, falling by 1.7 percent.
- South Asia: Arrivals from India (114,040) climbed by 9.8 percent.
- Long-haul: Visitors from the USA (162,460) were up 9.8 percent.
Arrival checkpoints
Land entry continued to dominate, accounting for 82.6 percent (33,084,253) of total visitor arrivals, and this segment grew by 19.1 percent. Arrivals via the Border Gate and the Hengqin port saw increases of 23.5 percent and 42.0 percent, respectively.
In contrast, visitor arrivals by sea (3,935,435; 9.8 percent of total) and by air (3,049,672; 7.6 percent of total) both declined, dropping by 3.9 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.
[See more: Macao’s airport battles headwinds with strong international route growth in 2025]
Looking at December 2025 specifically, visitor arrivals were up 17.8 percent year-on-year to 3,580,130. Same-day visitors (2,107,339) and overnight visitors (1,472,791) increased by 23 percent and 10.9 percent, but the overall average length of stay shortened to 0.9 days.
