While the total amount of money visitors to Macao spent on items other than gambling grew by 5.8 percent year on year in 2024, that win was offset by an average per capita spending drop of 16.6 percent. New data from the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials, DSEC) shows these figures were 75.36 billion patacas and 2,157 patacas respectively.
DSEC attributed the rise in overall spending to the 23.8 percent increase in visitors 2024 welcomed compared to 2023. Same day visitors, however, spent 691 patacas per head on average in 2024, a decrease of 12.7 percent. Overnight visitors spent an average of 3,884 patacas each, a decrease of 8.2 percent.
Shopping made up 45.4 percent of total spending by travellers, with accommodation (25.5 percent) and food and beverages (20.9 percent) in a distant second and third places respectively. However, per-capita spending was higher among visitors coming to Macao to attend performances or competitions (5,076 patacas) and MICE events (4,323 patacas).
[See more: Macao is welcoming more visitors, but they’re spending less, local economist warns]
The majority of Macao’s primary source markets clocked declines in per capita spending between 2023 and 2024. Spending by South Koreans fell by 33.8 percent to 2,405 patacas on average; spending by Malaysians was down by 22.7 percent to 1,992 patacas on average. Spending by mainland Chinese dropped 18.1 percent to 2,503 patacas.
Thai visitors spent 15 percent less in 2024 than they did in 2023, Hong Kongers spent 13 percent less and the Taiwanese spent 8.8 percent less. Japanese visitors’ spending was down by just 1.4 percent, while Singaporeans’ spending climbed by 6.6 percent. Singaporeans also spent the most per capita of source markets mentioned by DSEC: 2,834 patacas on average.
Fourth quarter visitor spending in 2024, meanwhile, edged down by 0.2 percent year-on-year to total 19.15 billion patacas. Per capita visitor spending dropped by 8.2 percent year-on-year to 2,126 patacas, but rebounded 6.2 percent quarter-on-quarter.
