Gross gaming revenue (GGR) at Macao’s casinos increased by more than 4,000 percent year-on-year last month, according to the latest figures from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. That rise – from 398 million to 16.66 billion patacas – is due to the fact Macao was locked down for parts of July 2022.
During that time, all casinos ceased operations for 7 days as a Covid-19 outbreak wracked the city.
July’s total was up from the GGR in June 2023, which stood at 15.21 billion patacas – 9.6 percent month-on-month growth. Accumulated revenue stood at 96.79 billion patacas, up 263 percent year-on-year.
[A look back: All businesses including casinos to shutter 11-18 July; government says everyone must stay home]
Investment bank JP Morgan applauded the solid performance of Macao’s casino’s throughout July – especially in the face of a typhoon, TDM reported. Other analysts noted that mass market revenue for July was beginning to approach pre-pandemic levels, and that the premium mass was exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
To compare, the monthly GGR figures generally stood above 20 billion patacas from 2017 until the onset of Covid-19 at the start of 2020.
Monthly GGR remains lower than pre-pandemic totals. To compare, the monthly figures generally stood above 20 billion patacas from 2017 until the onset of Covid-19 at the start of 2020.
The government has set a GGR target of 130 billion patacas for 2023. However, many analysts have expressed the view that the territory is capable of generating as much as 168 billion patacas.
Nearly 60 billion patacas in gaming taxes will be collected in 2023, according to projections.
