Macau returned to positive growth in the second quarter of the year, driven by surging visitor arrivals amid government efforts to boost visitation, alongside steady domestic private consumption, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced in a statement.
Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.1 percent year-on-year in real terms to 100.39 billion patacas in the April-June period, according to the statement released by the bureau on Friday. Macau’s overall economic output corresponded to 88.8 percent of the total in the same period of pre-pandemic 2019.
Analysed by major components, total exports of services increased by 6.0 percent year-on-year in real terms in the second quarter, fuelled by a nearly 20 percent rise in visitor arrivals; exports of other tourism services and gaming services recorded respective growth of 5.9 percent and 9.9 percent. With respect to external merchandise trade, exports and imports of goods shrank by 6.6 percent and 4.1 percent year-on-year respectively in the second quarter.
As regards domestic demand, according to the statement, government final consumption expenditure and private consumption expenditure grew by 1.0 percent and 0.3 percent year-on-year respectively in the second quarter. On the other hand, Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF)* declined by 3.7 percent year-on-year owing to a decrease in private construction projects.
Private equipment investment climbed by 11.7 percent year-on-year, and public construction investment and equipment investment increased by 19.9 percent and 83.0 percent respectively.
For the first half of the year, GDP expanded by 1.8 percent year-on-year in real terms to 200.15 billion patacas. The overall economic output returned to 87.0 percent of the level in the same period of 2019.
Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case in January 2020.
In the first six months, exports of services, government final consumption expenditure, private consumption expenditure and GFCF rose by 1.0 percent, 1.1 percent, 0.3 percent and 1.8 percent year-on-year in real terms respectively. The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, fell by 0.5 percent year-on-year to 99.0.
* Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) refers to the total value of additions to fixed assets (such as buildings, machinery, infrastructure, and intellectual property) within an economy during a specific period, minus disposals of old assets. It is a key component of an economy’s GDP under the expenditure approach. – DeepSeek
Consumers buy electronic goods in a shop on Rua dos Mercadores (“Merchants’ Street”) yesterday. Virtually all of Macau’s goods are imported. Macau imported goods worth 60.57 billion patacas in the first half of the year, accounting for 90.1 percent of its external merchandise trade. – Photo: Carl Leong
