Macau’s 30 casinos generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of 20.78 billion patacas last month, a year-on-year growth of 6.6 percent, the lowest year-on-year growth rate so far this year, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has announced today.
Last month's GGR was the highest since January 2020, which stood at 22.12 billion patacas. Macau's three-year COVID-19 pandemic began in late January 2020.
GGR in October rose by 20.4 percent month on month, from 17.25 billion patacas in September.
In the first 10 months of the year, GGR grew by 28.1 percent to 190.1 billion patacas.
Macau’s government-concessioned gaming industry is run by six rival integrated resort (IR) operators – Sands, Galaxy, SJM, Melco, Wynn, and MGM. Under their concession agreements with the government, the IR operators are required to strengthen their non-gaming attractions and support Macau’s cultural heritage promotion and old quarter renovation projects. The operators pay 35 percent of their GGR as direct gaming tax to the government, aside from an additional 5.0 percent in levies for funding a range of public causes. However, the gaming law, amended in 2022, allows the government to lower the additional levies (officially termed "contributions") for a raft of reasons, such as for operators expanding their foreign client markets or when they have to cope with unforeseen adverse developments affecting their business operations.
In the first half of the year, according to the latest available official gaming statistics, baccarat generated 85.2 percent of local casinos' GGR, among over a dozen games of chance. Gaming machines produced 5.6 percent of GGR between January and June this year.
