Macau casino takings drop 1.2 pct to 18 billion patacas last month, lowest in two full years

     Macau’s 20 casinos generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of 18.06 billion patacas (US$2.23 billion) last month, the lowest in two full years, marking a year-on-year decline of 1.2 percent, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced today.

Month-on-month, September’s GGR fell by 17.49 percent from August’s 21.89 billion patacas.

September was the gaming industry’s fourth consecutive month this year to post negative year-on-year GGR growth.

Last month’s GGR was the lowest in two full years. In September 2024, it stood at 17.25 billion patacas.

In the first nine months of the year, GGR rose year-on-year by 3.2 percent to 187.11 billion patacas.

Since January, accumulated GGR growth has fallen from this year’s high of 24.0 percent year-on-year to its lowest rate last month.

The Macau 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, they are required to enhance their non-gaming attractions and support the promotion of Macau’s cultural heritage and old-quarter renewal projects. The concessionaires pay 35 percent of their GGR as a direct gaming tax to the government, along with an additional 5.0 percent in levies to fund a raft of public causes.

Currently, the six operators run a total of 20 casinos, a 52.4 percent decrease from the peak of 42 casinos in 2021. This decline is primarily due to a government-ordered consolidation of the gaming industry, which included an official ban onso-called “satellite casinos” operated by third-party enterprises—informally known as junkets—in collaboration with gaming concessionaires.

During the gaming industry’s three-year consolidation process, which officially ended on December 31, 2025, the gaming tables and slot machines from shuttered satellite (third-party operated) casinos, along with their local employees, were transferred to casinos directly run by the six gaming concessionaires

At present, SJM and Sands run five casinos each, Galaxy and Melco operate three each, while Wynn and MGM run two each.

According to the latest available DICJ statistics, baccarat accounted for 84.4 percent of local casinos' GGR across their 16 games of chance, including slot machines, at the end of the first half of the year. In comparison, roulette, Europe’s classic game of chance, generated a mere 0.75 percent of GGR.

At the end of the first half, Macau’s casinos operated 6,000 gaming tables and 12,000 slot machines, according to the inspectorate.

Macau’s government-concessioned casino industry was established in 1849.

Meanwhile, according to the latest data from the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC), full-time gaming sector employees totalled 52,772 at the end of the second quarter, accounting for 10.7 percent of Macau’s total labour force of 495,800 between May and July 2026.

DSEC figures show that full-time gaming employees earned an average monthly salary of 28,660 patacas in June, a year-on-year increase of 4.6 percent. Dealers, who made up 41.9 percent of the sector's total full-time workforce, saw their average monthly salaries rise 1.5 percent to 22,130 patacas.