Macau's gross gaming revenue (GGR) skyrocketed 82.5 percent year on year to 11.58 billion patacas last month, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has announced today.
Analysts said the huge increase - the biggest year-on-year growth since May 2010 when GGR rose 94.1 percent - was the direct result of the government's decision to abolish almost all COVID-19 restrictions from early last month.
Last month's GGR was the highest since January 2020, when it amounted to 22.1 billion patacas.
Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case on January 22, 2020, after which the local government imposed a string of COVID-19 prevention and control measures similar to those in the Chinese mainland.
Month-on-month, GGR in January shot up 232.8 percent. In December 2022, GGR amounted to 3.48 billion patacas.
Macau recorded over 450,000 visitor arrivals during the mainland's Chinese New Year "Golden Week" holiday, according to official figures, more than the government had expected.
According to DICJ data, Macau's six rival gaming concessionaires owned a total of 30 casinos at the end of last year. Baccarat generated 36.15 billion patacas, or 85.6 percent of the gaming sector's GGR, in 2022.
Baccarat has been Macau casinos' most popular game of chance for decades.
