Macau's gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 25.7 percent year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of the year, on account of the revival of the local economy "underpinned by thriving exports of services" as well as steady private consumption and gross fixed capital formation, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced today.
According to a DSEC statement, the local economy has recovered to 87.2 percent of its size in the same quarter of pre-pandemic 2019; exports of gaming services and exports of other tourism services grew by 62.7 percent and 14.8 percent year-on-year respectively, while domestic demand (including private consumption expenditure, government final consumption expenditure and investment) rose by 3.4 percent.
The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, went up by 2.3 percent year-on-year to 106.8.
Macau's number of visitor arrivals surged by 79.4 percent year-on-year to 8.9 million in the first quarter of 2024, back to 85.7 percen t of the figure in the same quarter of 2019.
Exports of services, driven by external demand, grew by 30.3 percent year-on-year, of which exports of gaming services and other tourism services increased by 62.7 percent and 14.8 percent respectively.
Imports of services decreased by 3.5 percent. As regards merchandise trade, exports and imports of goods went down by 13.6 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.
Private consumption expenditure grew by 10.9 percent year-on-year, with household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market and abroad rising by 9.1 percent and 23.1 percent respectively. On the other hand, government final consumption expenditure dropped by 20.7 percent as the livelihood subsidy scheme ceased. Net purchases of goods and services declined by 40.5 percent, according to the statement.
The statement said that "positive economic sentiment facilitated an increase in investment". Gross fixed capital formation rose by 13.0 percent year-on-year, "marking positive growth for four consecutive quarters". Construction investment and equipment investment expanded by 4.3 percent and 48.0 percent respectively. Besides, private equipment investment and construction investment grew by 28.5 percent and 10.4 percent year-on-year respectively, owing to a notable rise in private equipment investment and the increased investments in residential building construction and construction projects by Macau's gaming concessionaires.
Government equipment investment recorded an uplift of 239.6 percent year-on-year, attributable to a significant growth in public equipment investment resulting from the ongoing construction of large infrastructure in the first quarter; however, public construction investment dipped by 1.8 percent, the statement noted.
Macau's expenditure-based GDP at current prices stood at 104.8 billion patacas in the first quarter of the year, a year-on-year growth in nominal terms of 28.6 percent, according to DSCE data. Compared with the fourth quarter of last year, GDP in the first quarter of 2024 was down by 2.69 percent in nominal terms.
