Investment in Macau Gaming Services Up 13% In Q1

Visitor spending on gaming services rose 13.0% year-on-year in the first three months of 2014, while out-of-game spending rose 6.6%, according to a report released on Monday by the Macau Monetary Authority.

This figure uses the GDP accounting method, which is calculated as a percentage of net service income from service exports.

Macau casinos' overall gaming revenue rose 19.8% during the same period.

In the first quarter, visitor spending in all service export sectors rose by double digits to 12.1%, according to the financial authorities.

The authority's monetary and financial stability review showed that all visitor spending using GDP for the whole of 2013 also rose 12.1% from 6.9% in 2012, but visitor arrivals rose only 4.4% during this period.

In addition, the general economic growth rate in 2013 was 11.9%, higher than the previous year's 9.1%.

"Service exports grew at a fast pace, driven by strong growth and high margins in the popular gaming sector," it added in a 2013 statistical report

According to the Gaming Bureau, baccarat sales in the popular market rose 38.3% year-over-year in 2013, a significant pace from the 13.1% increase in the VIP segment.

Visitors from mainland China, the biggest source of Macau tourists, rose 15.8% to 8.6 million in the first five months of 2014. Financial authorities said the proportion of mainland tourists arriving on individual visiting visas rose to 44.4% from 42.5% in the same period in 2013.

In addition, authorities confirmed that as of the end of May, 40% of Macau's employment workforce was non-residents.

The authority's monetary and financial stability review said: "With a clear shortage of local labor supply, imported workers rose 28.4% year-on-year to 152,299 at the end of May 2014, accounting for about 40.0% of Macau's working population."

In the three months to May 31, the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point year-on-year to 1.7%, it added.

"In the short term, imported labor will be the most effective option to meet ever-increasing labor demand and expand production capacity," the review said. 카지노사이트 모음