Economy grows 3.7% in first half as visitor spending lifts

[Photo: Lynzy Valles]

Powered by rising visitor arrivals and spending on tourism and gaming services, Macau’s economy grew 3.7% in real terms in the first half of 2026, although investment weakened and output remained below its pre-pandemic level.

Gross domestic product reached MOP209.91 billion USD26.1 billion from January through June, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) said Friday.

Economic output was equivalent to 89.1% of the level recorded in the first half of 2019.

Growth was led by service exports, which rose 7.3% from a year earlier as visitor arrivals increased 9%. Exports of other tourism services, including spending on accommodation, food, and shopping, rose 10.8%, while gaming-service exports increased 5.5%.

Merchandise trade also strengthened. Goods exports rose 14.8% in the first six months, while imports increased 9.5%.

Domestic consumption provided a more modest contribution. Private consumption expenditure increased 2.7%, suggesting residents continued to spend despite a more cautious broader economic environment. Government final consumption expenditure slipped 0.2%, while gross fixed capital formation, a measure of investment in construction, equipment, and other assets, fell 9.3%.

In the second quarter, GDP rose 0.3% in real terms from a year earlier to MOP102.35 billion, with output reaching 87.9% of its second-quarter 2019 level.

Service exports grew 1.6% during the April-to-June period, while private consumption and government spending each rose 2.1%. Gross fixed capital formation rose 4%.

However, stronger imports limited the contribution from external demand. Imports of goods increased 13.5%, contributing to a 2.5% fall in net external demand.

The GDP implicit deflator, a broad measure of price changes across the economy, rose 2.9% year on year to 101.8 in the second quarter.