The Macau government recently announced some excellent news for the whole gaming industry in Macau. Gaming tax revenue in Macau in the March 2023 quarter is higher than it was in the same quarter last year.

Successful first quarter:

In March 2023, the government earned MOP$10.1 billion (or US$1.25 billion) from the gaming industry. Compared to the same quarter last year, when the revenue was MOP$8.7 billion (US$1.08 billion), an increase of 15.8% has been recorded.

The Financial Services Bureau published more precise information about the matter. According to them, the country in January earned MOP$1.58 billion (US$196 million) in January, and it was the month with the smallest revenue in the first quarter of the year. In February, that amount increased to MOP$4.51 billion (US$559 million), while in March, it rose to MOP$4.02 billion (US$498 million).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the gambling industry has been in trouble. However, it seems the situation changed during the first quarter of 2023. The measures against spreading COVID-19 were active until December last year when the government started dropping them one by one. Almost all of the border restrictions were abolished on 8 January this year. Since then, the popularity of the gambling industry in Macau increased again.

In January, the gaming revenue in total was MOP$11.58 billion, or US$1.44 billion. In the corresponding month last year, the revenue was 82.5% smaller than this year. However, in April, it rose to MOP$14.72 billion (US$1.82 billion), which represents an increase of 450%. 

Fantastic gross gaming revenue figures:

Gross gaming revenue in Macau for the first quarter of 2023 increased by 94.9% compared to the same period last year. In total, it was MOP$34.6 billion (US$4.29 billion).

The gambling industry is one of the most important factors in Macau’s economy. The tax collection from the first quarter of 2023 is 19.9% of the MOP$50.9 billion (US$6.31 billion), which is the tax take which the government budgeted for the full year. 

The government predicted that the gross gaming revenue during the year would be MOP$130 billion, or US$16.1 billion. However, since the figures increased during the first quarter, it seems these numbers will be exceeded, which will mean a lot for Macau’s economic growth.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the region lost a lot of its power as one of the main centres of the South Asian area since its main profit was coming from tourists from China and Hong Kong. The tourists weren’t able to enter Macau for a long time, which greatly decreased the gross gaming revenue in the region. However, it seems the situation has changed.