The first quarter of 2025 saw visitor spending in Macao, excluding money spent on gambling at casinos, decrease by 3.6 percent when compared with the same period last year, official figures indicate. It totalled 56.21 billion patacas (US$6.9 billion) overall.
The Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials DSEC) attributed the fall to a decline in per-capita spending that was partly offset by an increase in visitor arrivals.
Per capita spending (excluding gambling) averaged 1,989 patacas (US$246) across the three-month period, down 13.2 percent year-on-year. Day-trippers spent 729 patacas (US$90) each on average, down by 10.8 percent. Overnighters averaged 3,807 patacas (US$471), down by 5.4 percent.
Shopping was visitors’ biggest expense, accounting for 45.7 percent of their total spend in the SAR on average. Accommodation came next, at 23.8 percent, followed by food & beverages at 23.2 percent.
[See more: Tourist spending on entertainment and cultural activities fell significantly in 2024]
The highest spenders were in the SAR to attend either MICE events averaging 5,528 patacas (US$684) per person, or performances and sports competitions, averaging 4,374 patacas (US$541) per person.
Out of the foreign nationalities noted by Statistics and Census Service, Singaporean visitors spent the most per capita on average during the first quarter – 2,584 patacas (US$319) – followed by Thais with 2,135 patacas (US$264), then Malaysians at 1,668 patacas (US$206). Singaporeans spent 1.1 percent more on average than a year ago, while Thais and Malaysians spent 9.7 percent and 8.4 percent less, respectively.
Visitors from the Chinese mainland, Macao’s biggest source market, spent 2,297 patacas (US$284) on average, down 13.8 percent year-on-year.
Decreased visitor spending has been blamed, in part, for the SAR’s lacklustre economic performance in the first quarter of 2025.
