Macau's 30 casinos produced gross gaming revenue (GGR) of 20.18 billion patacas (US$2.5 billion) in May, a year-on-year growth of 29.7 percent - and a post-COVID-19 record, the local government's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has announced today.
Last month's GGR was Macau's highest since January 2020, when the special administrative region recorded its first COVID-19 case. In January 2020, GGR amounted to 22.12 billion patacas. The pandemic severely affected Macau's economy, its gaming, tourism and retail sectors in particular, for three consecutive years.
May's year-on-year growth was a bit higher than the one in April, which stood at 26.0 percent. February recorded this year's highest year-on-year growth, which reached 79.1 percent.
Month on month, GGR rose 8.8 percent in May.
GGR in the first five months rose 47.9 percent year on year to 96.0 billion patacas.
Macau's government-concessioned gaming industry is run by six rival integrated resort (IR) operators - Sands, Galaxy, SJM, Melco, Wynn, and MGM. Integrated into its concession agreements, the local government is requiring the IR operators to strengthen their non-gaming attractions and support Macau's cultural heritage promotion projects.
In the first quarter, according to the latest available official figures, baccarat generated 85.4 percent of Macau's GGR. Roulette, Europe's classic casino game, produced a mere 0.4 percent of the GGR in the first three months of the year when the gaming industry offered over a dozen games of chance, according to DICJ data.
