Macao’s government now expects to collect 79.8 billion patacas (US$9.87 billion) in gaming taxes this year, a 5 percent downgrade from the 84 billion patacas (US$10.3 billion) initially forecast. That would equate to a year-on-year drop of 9.4 percent, down from 2024’s 88.1 billion patacas (US$10.9 billion), casino industry website GGR Asia reports.
The revision was made in a government-proposed 2025 fiscal budget amendment bill, which received final approval from the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. The official tax rate on GGR is 35 percent under the gaming operators’ latest 10-year concessions, though the effective rate is around 40 percent.
The news followed a reduction in the official 2025 gross gaming revenue (GGR) forecast, which was made last month. The new figure is 228 billion patacas (US$28.2 billion) in collective takings for Macao’s six gaming concessionaires, down from a previous projection of 240 billion patacas (US$29.6 billion).
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When the government announced its GGR adjustment, it noted that gambling earnings had fallen short of expectations across the first half of the year. That has largely been attributed to tourists’ changing consumption habits and the mainland’s struggling economy.
Last month, some analysts predicted that Macao’s casinos were reaching an inflection point after a slow start in 2025 and that GGR could achieve year-on-year growth of 4 percent.
June’s earnings beat expectations by a large margin, coming in at 21.06 billion patacas (US$2.6 billion) – the second consecutive month GGR exceeded 20 billion patacas (US$2.4 billion), which had been the government’s original monthly average target. The year-on-year jump of 19 percent was attributed in part to Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung’s residency at Galaxy Arena, which continues this month.
