Despite record-high visitor arrivals in February, a month that also coincided with the peak Chinese New Year (CNY) travel season, monthly gross gaming revenue (GGR) showed a significant decline compared with January.
According to official data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), the gaming industry generated MOP20.627 billion last month, an 8.86% month-on-month drop from MOP22.633 billion in January.
Still, the result represents a 4.5% year-on-year increase compared with February last year, when GGR stood below the MOP20 billion mark (MOP19.744 billion).
The 2026 year-to-date result (MOP43.261 billion) also reflects a significant increase (+13.9%) over 2025, but it also signals a slowdown from the 24% gains seen in the first month of this year.
Overall, results for the first two months of the year are well above analysts’ 2026 forecast of around 6% growth and are even further from the government projection.
In its budget proposal, the government projected gross gaming revenue to reach MOP236 billion in 2026, representing an average of about MOP19.67 billion per month. After only two months, results have already exceeded this forecast, with the monthly average reaching MOP21.63 billion, suggesting a potential annual total of around MOP260 billion.
In 2019 (pre-pandemic), February recorded GGR of MOP25.37 billion – 23% higher than this year – and a two-month accumulated revenue of MOP50.312 billion, 16.3% higher than the current year-to-date result.
Late last month, major market analysts had already signaled slower-than-expected growth in February revenue, prompting Citigroup and JPMorgan to trim their monthly growth forecasts.
As previously reported, official statistics showed that Macau welcomed over 1.7 million visitors during the 10-day period coinciding with CNY this year. The extended holiday period resulted from the Chinese New Year’s Eve falling on a Monday, which included two full weekends in the traditional Golden Week of the Spring Festival.
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