Gambling revenue up 17 pct in Macau

During August, gambling revenue in Macau grew 17 per cent, mainly thanks to Chinese players betting in the region.

Macau.- Gambling revenue in Macau was up 17 per cent during August, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau revealed. It is the 25th straight month that gambling revenues went up in the only legal hub in China, mainly thanks to local gamblers keen to bet in the territory.

The gambling regulator revealed that revenues grew to €2.84 billion to reach the 17 per cent growth. The financial results were better than analysts’ expectations, which forecasted an improvement of 15 to 17 per cent for August and ratified the good results seen after the territory bounced back from slowing economic growth and a widespread crackdown on corruption starting in 2014.

The Chinese region continues to thrive around the gambling industry and is even set to become the richest place in the world. According to Bloomberg, the territory will knock Qatar off the top of the list in 2020, based on figures from the International Monetary Fund, which revealed Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) has more than tripled since 2001.

The IMF expects the economy to reach about €123.3k per person by 2020, beating Qatar’s €11.3k. In addition, it foresees that the difference between Macau’s and Qatar’s GDPs will continue to widen as the Chinese territory’s figure per capita is set to reach €148.8k by 2023.