Macau’s gross gaming revenues came in at MOP$17.3 billion (US$2.16 billion) in September, up 15.5% year-on-year but down 12.7% on August GGR of MOP$19.8 billion (US$2.47 billion). It is also the lowest monthly GGR figure of 2024 so far.
The figure represents 78.3% of September 2019 levels, when Macau GGR was MOP$22.1 billion (US$2.76 billion), according to information from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).
The month-on-month decline was widely tipped by industry analysts, who noted that September is a “shoulder season” between the summer holiday period and the October Golden Week holiday.
A series of adverse weather events in early September, China’s crackdown on illicit money exchange activities and fewer “weekend days” than the prior month have also been cited as short-term factors.
For the first nine months of 2024 combined, GGR reached MOP$169.4 billion (US$21.1 billion), up 31.3% compared to the same period last year.