The 33 casinos in Macau reported gross gaming revenues for April of $2.17 billion, which represents a decline of 9.5% year-on-year and marks a 23rd consecutive month of deterioration.

According to a report from the Gaming Inspection And Coordination Bureau (DICJ), last month’s figures bring gross gaming revenues in the former Portuguese enclave since the start of the year to $9.19 billion, which is 12.4% lower than for the same four-month period in 2015.

In the face of such a drop off it may be hard to see a silver lining but numerous analysts had predicted the monthly fall could be as high as 13.5% year-on-year while many see the news as an indication that the market, which has now begun focusing more on attracting tourists and casual gamblers rather than VIP high-rollers, is beginning to stabilize.

Some of the reduction could also be due to the difficulty now faced by financial institutions in obtaining accurate advanced data following the appointment as DICJ chief in December of the more secretive Paulo Martins Chan.