Macau: drop in the number of local gamblers

The Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming found the that the number of resident players has fallen in the last 12 months.

Macau.- A survey by Davis Fong Ka Chio, director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming, has found that the percentage of local residents who gambled in the past 12 months has decreased from 67 per cent to about 40 per cent.

He also noted that the percentage of local gambling addicts had dropped from a peak of 6 per cent to 0.8 per cent. However, Fong Ka Chio said his institute has received more calls to its helpline than ever, although he said some of the callers were from overseas.

Macau now has 59 Responsible Gaming Information Stations designed to provide customers with basic information about responsible gambling and the prevention of gambling addiction. According to Fong Ka Chio, 110,000 people have used the sites since 2012.

See also: Macau registered only 78 people with gambling disorders in 2021

Regarding Macau’s new bill on junket businesses and satellite casinos, Fong Ka Chio said the closure of satellite casinos is unlikely to affect the government’s gaming revenue. 

Macau gaming tax revenue reaches US$1.08bn in Q1

The Financial Services Bureau in Macau has shared a financial report showing that the city has collected MOP8.73bn (US$1.08bn) in fiscal revenue from direct taxes on gaming in the first quarter of the year 2022. That’s a drop of 4.8 per cent when compared to the same quarter in 2021.

Between January 1 and February 28, the city collected MOP5.73bn (US$711.18m) from gaming taxes. In March, the tally was MOP3bn, up nearly 21.5 per cent month-on-month. Authorities have forecast that full-year revenue from direct taxes on gaming will be MOP49.76bn for 2022.