Macau’s casinos generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of 21,088 billion patacas (US$2.64 billion) last month, a year-on-year increase of 15.9 percent, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced today.
Month-on-month, however, GGR was down by 12.4 percent.
October’s GGR of 24.08 billion patacas was the best since pre-COVID-19 October 2019, when it amounted to 26.4 billion patacas.
Gaming industry executives say that November is usually a “slow” month in terms of casino takings.
Macau’s gaming industry was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for three consecutive years, from January 2020 to December 2022.
In the first 11 months of the year, GGR increased by 8.6 percent year-on-year to 226.5 billion patacas.
Macau’s government-concessioned gaming industry is operated 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 the promotion of Macau’s cultural heritage and old-quarter renewal projects. The operators pay 35 percent of their GGR as direct gaming tax to the government, in addition to a further 5.0 percent in levies for funding various public causes.
However, the gaming law, amended in 2022, allows the government to reduce these additional levies (officially termed "contributions") for various reasons, such as when operators expand their foreign client markets or face unforeseen adverse developments affecting their business operations.
In the first three quarters of the year, according to the latest available official gaming statistics, baccarat generated 85 percent of local casinos' GGR across their 16 games of chance. Roulette, Europe’s classic game of chance, generated a mere 0.5 percent.
At the end of the third quarter, Macau’s 28 casinos operated 6,000 gaming tables and 12,000 slot machines, according to official statistics.
In 2021, Macau had 42 casinos, a record number in Macau's history of licensed casinos which began in 1849. Due to the government’s decision some three years ago to clamp down on so-called satellite casinos run by third parties in cooperation with gaming concessionaires, the number of casinos has decreased, set to fall to two dozen at the end of the year.
During the ongoing consolidation process, the closed satellite casinos’ gaming tables and slot machines, as well as their local employees, have been moved to the casinos directly run by gaming concessionaires. The process is slated to conclude at the end of this year.
Caption: Vehicular and pedestrian traffic moves in front of Casino Lisboa this afternoon. - Photo: Carl Leong
