Macau casinos' gross gaming revenue (GGR) rose 450 percent month on month from 398 million patacas (US$49.5 million) in July to 2.189 billion patacas in August, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination (DICJ) has announced today.
In response to the city's worst COVID-19 outbreak since its first novel coronavirus case was confirmed in January 2020, Macau's casinos were closed by the government between July 11-22, which resulted in the gaming industry's worst GGR since the pandemic. The outbreak has meanwhile been brought under control. Six people died of COVID-19 during the outbreak which began in mid-June.
Year on year, however, GGR fell 50.7 percent to 2.189 billion patacas last month, the second lowest GGR per month so far this year.
In the first eight months, GGR dropped 53.4 percent to 28.85 billion patacas.
Macau's currently 37 casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as tax to the government. They pay an additional five percent of their gross receipts as a leavy to support the government's social, cultural and economic development projects.
Baccarat has traditionally been Macau's most popular game of chance. In the first half of the year, baccarat generated 86.5 percent of casinos' gross receipts, according to DICJ data.
Local and overseas casino operators can submit their bids for up to six gaming concessions until September 14. Macau's current six operators have said they will bid for the new concessions which are slated to start in January 2023. The concessions have a duration of up to 10 years, which can be extended for a maximum of three years.
