Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of this year slowed to 6 percent year-on-year in real terms, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) said in a statement Sunday
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The DSEC statement pointed out that GDP growth in the second quarter was lower than the 9.2 percent rise in the previous quarter due to a smaller increase in exports of services and a notable decline in investment.
External demand maintained growth, pushing up exports of services by 13 percent year-on-year, with exports of gaming services and other tourism services rising 13.7 percent and 13.0 percent respectively.
Exports of goods went up by 30 percent.
Domestic demand eased slightly owing to an 11.9 percent decrease in investment. Private consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure rose 5.3 percent and 5.1 percent respectively year-on-year.
Private consumption expenditure showed solid growth, the statement said. Total employment and employment earnings increased, driving private consumption expenditure up by 5.3 percent year-on-year, higher than the 4.8 percent rise in the previous quarter.
Private investment decreased, leading to a larger drop in gross fixed asset investment. Gross fixed asset investment contracted by 11.9 percent year-on-year, a much greater decline compared to the 1.9 percent drop in the previous quarter.
Exports of services remained the major driving force for economic growth despite a smaller rate of increase. The growth in total exports of services slowed from 16 percent in the first quarter to 13 percent in the second quarter, with exports of gaming services and other tourism services rising by 13.7 percent and 13.0 percent respectively.
Macau’s GDP stood at 104.8 billion patacas in the second quarter, according to DSEC statistics.
Meanwhile, the bureau said in a statement on Friday that retail sales for the second quarter increased 23.7 percent year-on-year to 18.01 billion patacas, yet fell 13.4 percent as compared with the revised figure (20.79 billion patacas) in the first quarter of the year.
Watches and jewellery accounted for 21.1 percent of the total retail sales, followed by goods in department stores (15.8 percent), Leather Goods (13.4 percent) and Adults’ Clothing (12.4 percent).
