Macau's gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 63.8 percent year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter of this year, a smaller decline compared to the previous quarter (-68.0 percent), the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) said in a statement today.
With a rebound in visitor arrivals following the easing of travel restrictions for mainland residents to visit Macau, exports of services of Macau fell at a slower rate of 87.5 percent in the third quarter, of which exports of gaming services and other tourism services went down by 93.6 percent and 87.9 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, exports of goods soared by 252.2 percent year-on-year. Domestic demand recorded a smaller decrease of 6.1 percent year-on-year, on account of a slower rate of decline in private consumption expenditure. Imports of goods increased by 17.6 percent, while imports of services slid by 44.1 percent.
The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, dropped by 0.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter.
As there were no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Macau in the third quarter, economic activity gradually recovered, the statement said. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market recorded a smaller decline of 8.4 percent, underpinned by the government's consumption subsidy smartcard scheme. Meanwhile, household final consumption expenditure abroad declined by 68.1 percent owing to the ongoing entry restrictions imposed in different countries and territories. The overall private consumption decreased by 16.7 percent year-on-year.
As the Macau government maintained its expenditure on pandemic prevention and continued providing economic relief measures, government final consumption expenditure recorded a larger increase of 18.6 percent as against the 16.3 percent growth in the previous quarter. Net purchases of goods and services rose by 33.9 percent while employees salaries went up by 2.7 percent.
Investment in fixed assets went down by 5.6 percent year-on-year; construction investment dropped by 10.3 percent while equipment investment increased by 14.5 percent. Public construction investment slid by 18.7 percent year-on-year, and equipment investment fell by 28.2 percent. Concerning private investment, construction investment shrank by 7.2 percent year-on-year owing to reduced investment in residential building projects and the corresponding drop in real estate developers’ operating margin; on the other hand, equipment investment grew by 22.9 percent.
Merchandise trade showed improvement, with imports and exports of goods rising by 17.6 percent and 252.2 percent year-on-year respectively.
As the mainland authorities lifted travel restrictions to Macau, the number of visitor arrivals surged by 1,409 percent quarter-to-quarter in the third quarter. Yet, exports of gaming services and other tourism services still recorded year-on-year decreases of 93.6 percent and 87.9 percent respectively. Concurrently, imports of services slid by 44.1 percent year-on-year, owing to a decrease in outbound trips made by residents and a slowdown in other economic activity.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy, GDP for the first three quarters of this year declined by 59.8 percent year-on-year in real terms. In terms of the major expenditure components of GDP, private consumption expenditure decreased by 18.1 percent whereas government final consumption expenditure rose by 13.4 percent. Investment slid by 15.5 percent. Exports of goods surged by 75.4 percent while imports of goods dropped by 12.6 percent. Exports of services declined by 79.6 percent, with exports of gaming services falling by 83.6 percent; in addition, imports of services reduced by 41.3 percent.
