Gaming commissions, customer rebates rise 12% in 2025

The gaming sector spent nearly 12% more on goods, commissions and customer rebates in 2025, the fastest increase among its main expenditure categories, as gaming receipts grew more quickly than overall costs.

Spending on purchases of goods, commissions and customer rebates rose 11.6% year on year to MOP25.88 billion ($3.21 billion), equivalent to 25.5% of the sector’s MOP101.44 billion in total expenditure, according to calculations based on the annual Gaming Sector Survey released Friday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The increase pushed the category’s share of total expenditure above the roughly 24.6% recorded in 2024, when it amounted to about MOP23.2 billion out of MOP94.37 billion in overall spending.

Total gaming-sector receipts increased 8.8% to MOP251.75 billion in 2025, outpacing the 7.5% rise in expenditure. The difference in growth rates helped lift the industry’s gross surplus before tax by 9.3% to MOP156.47 billion.

The gross surplus ratio, which indicates the proportion of receipts remaining after the costs covered by the survey, increased by 0.2 percentage points from 62.7% in 2024 to 62.9%.

Games of chance remained the sector’s main source of revenue, generating MOP247.40 billion, or 98.3% of total receipts, according to the survey.

Operating expenses, the largest expenditure category, rose 7.7% to MOP43.72 billion.

In this category, complimentary goods and services provided to customers accounted for 62.6% of operating expenses, underscoring the scale of spending associated with attracting and serving casino patrons.

Hotel accommodation alone represented 32.4% of operating expenses, while food and beverages accounted for 20.3%. Other complimentary goods and services made up 6.4%, and bus, ferry and air tickets accounted for 3.5%.

Compensation of employees increased 6% to MOP22.77 billion, despite little change in the industry’s workforce.

The number of full-time employees rose just 0.2%, or 104 workers, from 52,971 in 2024 to 53,075 in 2025.

In addition, the latest survey covered eight enterprises engaged in gaming activities in Macau during 2025, compared with nine recorded a year earlier.