Macau’s gross gaming revenue plummeted to just MOP$398 million (US$49 million) in July, the lowest monthly revenue result at any time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to information from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), July’s GGR figure was down by 95.3% year-on-year and by 83.9% compared with June as the city battled its first major outbreak of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. It is also just 1.6% of Macau’s GGR in July 2019.
The previous pandemic low was MOP$716 million (US$88 million) in June 2020.
Having originally responded to the outbreak by implementing multiple rounds of mass testing for all Macau residents, the government ordered all Macau casinos closed for seven days from Monday 11 July – later extended by another five days.
Casinos reopened on 23 July but with only 50% of staff permitted to return and visitation still significantly stifled by ongoing border restrictions with mainland China.
For the first seven months of 2022 combined, GGR is down 53.6% year-on-year to MOP$26.67 billion (US$3.30 billion), which is down 84.7% compared to 2019.