According to a recent survey, gambling and junket operations generated more than 50% of the industrial structure of Macau in 2018 amid the city’s efforts to make its economy more diversified and less reliant on casinos.
As revealed by official data, the heavy-weight sector in the city in 2018 had an industrial share of a little over 50.50%. This has been the first time the sector has managed to surpass the 50% threshold since 2014 when it accounted for more than 58%.
The Analysis Report of Statistical Indicator System for 2018 showed that the gambling sector has minimized the contribution of any other segment in the local economy, including the hotels and hospitality services, renting and business services, financial services, wholesale and retail trade, etc. These four sectors, along with public administration and the real estate and construction sector accounted for almost 32% of Macau’s industrial structure.
The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau released some data that showed a 14% increase in the gross gaming revenue a year ago. The figure represented a much larger increase in comparison to the overall 4.7% aggregate growth in Macau’s economy. The Economic Diversification Report is annually released to objectively measure the actual extent of the city’s reliance on the local gambling sector.
SAR Government of Macau Has Been Trying to Reduce Dependence on Gambling Services
This year’s report, which has been the third one since 2016, analysts have made some changes to the method of calculating the revenue accumulated from non-gaming activities so that the results better correspond to some international guidelines. According to experts, the new method may turn out better to reflect the contribution made by certain sectors to overall non-gambling operations’ receipts.
The new method of calculating the revenue virtually had no impact on the gambling concessions of Macau when it comes to the share of their revenue generated by non-gambling activities last year. According to the report, the overall amount received by the above-mentioned concessions in 2018 amounted to MOP335.34 billion. Less than 10% of these (9.97%) were derived from non-gambling activities.
Previously, the SAR Government of Macau had announced its plans to decrease the city’s dependence on casino and gambling operations by drawing it to the minimum. Under the newly-used method, only 6.8% of the total revenue of Macau’s economy was derived from non-gambling sources in 2017.
The last few years have seen the economy of Macau become more diversified, while the proportion of tourists who have visited the city has slightly declined in 2018. According to the latest report, the proportion of visitors from mainland China was 70.55% in 2018, while 2017 and 2016 saw a proportion of 68.06% and 66%, respectively. The city has been trying to cut its dependence on the local casino and gambling sector despite it has been one of the largest gambling destinations on a global scale.
