Macau recorded 24.48 million visitor arrivals in the first seven months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 8.0 percent, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today.
Same-day visitors grew by 13.9 percent to 14.99 million, while overnight visitors dipped by 0.3 percent to 9.49 million.
Foreign visitors rose by 5.1 percent to 1.59 million, accounting for 6.5 percent of the total number of visitor arrivals. Overnight visitors stayed, on average, for 2.3 days (55 hours), unchanged from a year earlier.
In July, visitor arrivals rose by 2.4 percent to 3.54 million. On average, Macau recorded 114,265 visitor arrivals per day last month.
At the end of the first half of the year, Macau’s population stood at 686,500, according to official demographics.
In July, visitors from the Chinese mainland rose by 5.4 percent year-on-year to 2.70 million, accounting for 76.2 percent of the total number of visitor arrivals. Visitor arrivals from China's Taiwan region rose by 13.9 percent to 104,833 in July, when those from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) dropped by 10.2 percent.
Foreign visitors dipped by 1.9 percent to 174,469 in July, or 4.9 percent of the total number of visitor arrivals. The Philippines (32,865), South Korea (27,531) and the US (15,859) made up Macau’s top three foreign visitor segments.
Retail sales rise 17.2 pct in H1
Meanwhile, according to a separate DSEC statement today, Macau’s retail sales rose by 17.2 percent year-on-year to 39.4 billion patacas. Sales of communication equipment, smartphones in particular, rose by 88.6 percent year-on-year. However, sales in department stores and supermarkets fell by 8.5 percent and 6.5 percent respectively.
GDP up 3.7 pct in H1
The bureau also announced today that the revised figure for Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 209.9 billion patacas in the first half of the year, an increase in real terms of 3.7 percent year-on-year.
For the second quarter, the revised GDP figure grew by 0.3 percent year-on-year in real terms to 102.35 billion patacas.
Shoppers browse a POP MART shop in Macau’s old quarters this evening. POP MARTs are popular with locals and tourists alike.
— Photo: Carl Leong
Tourists walk past a pharmacy in Macau's old quarters this evening. Pharmacies are particularly popular with shoppers from the Chinese mainland. - Photo: Carl Leong
