Macao’s gross domestic product (GDP) totalled 204.3 billion patacas during the first six months of this year, marking the first time the figure for the period has exceeded 200 billion patacas since the first half of 2019.
According to data from the Statistics and Census Service (also known by its Portuguese initials DSEC), GDP in the first half of 2024 represents a 15.7 percent growth year-on-year and a recovery of around 86 percent in comparison to the corresponding time frame in 2019.
In terms of the export of services during this period, there was a year-on-year surge of 17.6 percent. Gaming service exports saw a particularly high growth rate, jumping by almost 40 percent in comparison to the corresponding period in 2023. The export of other tourism services also grew, albeit at a rate of only 3 percent.
Domestic demand – encompassing both private and public spending – also witnessed growth, with a nearly 3 percent increase. Owing to an improvement in the city’s economy and labour market, there was a year-on-year jump of nearly 8 percent in private consumption in the first six months of this year.
Government spending, on the other hand, fell 14 percent, with DSEC noting that it was a result of “the cessation of the livelihood subsidy scheme.”
[See more: The Macau Economic Association says the third quarter outlook is positive]
In the second quarter of this year, the local economy grew by nearly 7 percent year-on-year, with the recovery rate reaching around 85 percent of the levels recorded in the second quarter of 2019.
Service exports were the main driver of growth, increasing by around 6 percent in comparison to the corresponding quarter last year. While gaming service exports boasted an impressive increase of 22.6 percent, there was a 9.5 percent drop in the exports of other tourism services as a result of the high benchmark that was set in the second quarter of 2023, following the ending of pandemic travel restrictions.
There was also a rise of 2.2 percent in domestic demand during the second quarter. Although private consumption grew at a year-on-year rate of almost 5 percent over this period, government expenditure fell by approximately 7 percent.
The SAR’s entire GDP in 2023 totalled 379.48 billion patacas, a recovery of around 87 percent in comparison to the 434.67 billion patacas that was posted in 2019.
While the local economy still faces various domestic and international economic challenges in the second half of 2024, the Macau Economic Association expects it to remain stable in the third quarter.
