Gaming closes 2021 44% up from 2020, but still 70% down from 2019
The gaming industry closed 2021 with an increase of 44% year-on-year compared with 2020, figures released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) show.
According to the report, December closed with a gross gaming revenue (GGR) of MOP7.96 billion, a figure that represents a growth of 1.8% from November.
Overall, the year closed with a GGR of MOP86.86 billion, that is, 43.7% up from the MOP60.44 billion recorded in 2020.
Nonetheless, the positive result obtained at the end of 2021 is still very far (less than one-third) from the GGR obtained in 2019, when in pre-pandemic times, the full-year recorded MOP292.46 billion.
Comparing the results month-on-month throughout the whole year, December emerges as the fifth-best month of 2021, behind May, July, April, and March.
May remains the best month of the year for GGR, with MOP10.4 billion in revenue recorded.
On the other hand, the worst month of 2021 for local casinos was October when the GGR reached only MOP4.37 billion, a result driven by Covid-19 outbreak in the community that led to the enforcement of special border restrictions including a mandatory medical observation in quarantine for all Mainland residents returning to the Mainland after visiting Macau. This led most of the casino patrons to avoid traveling to Macau from late September until late October.
Data on VIP and Mass Market gaming activities from the last quarter of 2021 is not yet available: the DICJ will publish it a later stage. Nonetheless, it is likely that VIP Baccarat results will record a significant drop following the halting of junket operations in December.
