Macau’s casinos garnered MOP8.02 billion in gaming revenue in January (US$1 billion), a 3 percent improvement over December and another sign the industry is slowly recovering from the Covid crisis that decimated the market in 2020.
The total was down by more than 63 percent from last January’s pre-pandemic total, but analysts viewed the result positively, noting that it exceeded consensus expectations and was achieved in the face of new pandemic-related travel restrictions in China.
They noted also that December ‘s win of $977.5 million was the highest since the pandemic hit and was accompanied by a seventh straight month of improved visitation at 659,407.
For all of 2020, Macau casinos collected $7.56 billion in gaming revenue, a decline of 79.3 percent from 2019’s world-leading $36.6 billion.
It’s believed the impacts cost the local economy around 11,000 jobs in the gaming and junket sectors, according to government figures, most of the cuts, some 8,900, coming from non-resident staff.
The city’s overall unemployment rate stood at 2.7 percent in December and 3.8 percent among residents who hold Macau ID.
