Economy grows by 9.1 percent in 2017

The economy of Macau grew by 9.1 percent in 2017, ending the economic contraction seen over the past three consecutive years, according to data released yesterday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2017 amounted to MOP404.2 billion while per-capita GDP amounted to MOP622,803 (about USD77,596).

The economy increased by 11.2 percent in the first half of 2017, followed by a 7.2 percent rise in the second half of the year. DSEC pointed out that although the whole economy experienced positive growth, domestic demand remained weak and decreased by 2.7 percent in 2017. Conversely, private consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure rose by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.

The statistical data also indicates that total exports of services increased by 15.4 percent amid growth in the number of visitor arrivals and visitors’ spending.  Exports of gaming services and other tourism services went up by 16.4 percent and 15.4 percent respectively.

According to DSEC, in the fourth quarter of 2017, GDP benefited from the uptrend in exports of services and expanded by 8 percent year-on-year in real terms, higher than the 6.3 percent growth seen in the third quarter.

The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, went up by 3.4 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2017. The economic growth rates for the first, second and third quarters of the year were revised upwards to 11.5 percent, 11 percent and 6.3 percent respectively.