Macau's electricity consumption dropped 6.7 percent in 2020, the first year-on-year decline in three decades, public broadcaster TDM/Radio Macau has reported, quoting a statement by the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC).
Observers attributed the decrease to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy, the tourism and gaming sectors in particular. Macau recorded its first novel coronavirus case on January 22 last year.
Yesterday's DSEC statement said that the power consumption decline was mainly caused by entities such as businesses (down by 11.4 percent) and the public sector (down by 7.1 percent). However, households' consumption of electricity rose by 9.6 percent last year.
Observers attributed the rise in households' power consumption to the fact that due to the pandemic many residents stayed more at home than before the outbreak of the infectious disease.
According to DSEC figures, last year's tap water consumption fell by 7.9 percent, the first year-on-year decline in a decade.
Both most of Macau's electricity and tap water are supplied by the Chinese mainland. They are locally distributed by CEM and Macao Water respectively.
