Macau’s GDP reached €20.6 billion last year, compared to €26.9 billion in 2021, according to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
In the fourth quarter of last year, GDP contracted by 23.4% year-on-year in real terms.
External demand remained weak, and the number of inbound visitors to Macau was down 31.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, the DSEC added.
The real GDP growth rate was 19.3% in 2021 and -54.2% in 2020.
Macau, like China, followed the ‘zero covid’ policy and announced in December the cancellation of most prevention and containment measures after nearly three years of tight restrictions.
With the easing of the measures, the city registered more than a million visitors in January, an increase of 101.3% year-on-year, while the hotel occupancy rate was 71.2%, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
The gaming industry, which accounted for 53.5% of Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, provided work at the end of last year to nearly 68,000 people, or about 18.8% of the employed population.
Macau’s gambling concessionaires have accumulated unprecedented losses since 2020, prompting the government to resort to the extraordinary reserve to respond to the crisis, as about 80% of government revenues came from gambling taxes.
With information from Notícias ao Minuto
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