The pandemic’s toll on Macau’s economy has been among the worst in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new study.
Research conducted by the International Labour Organization, which monitors employment and living standards for the United Nations, indicates that Macau, together with the Maldives, which also relies heavily on tourism, suffered the region’s largest declines in growth, 52 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
The results were culled from data reported by 30 countries and cities.
Macau, along with Hong Kong, also has had the largest drop in tourist numbers compared with 2019, a decline which authorities in the gaming hub expect to surpass 90 percent year on year.
“While some governments in the region have made efforts to promote domestic tourism, international tourism has collapsed due to Covid-19,” the report stated. “In economies with available data, there have almost been no international tourist arrivals except in Indonesia and (South Korea).”
Foreign direct investment in Macau also has withered, the study shows, down by more than 80 percent. Only Sri Lanka’s was worse.
In terms of overall greenfield investment, the biggest declines of 25 economies sampled were in Macau, the Maldives, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka and ranged from minus-84 percent to minus-89 percent.
