Macau’s casinos generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of 247.4 billion patacas (US$30.8 billion) last month, a year-on-year increase of 9.1 percent, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced today.
2025's GGR was the highest since pre-pandemic 2019, amounting to 292.4 billion patacas; that is to say, last year's GGR was still 45 billion patacas short of the figure for the year before the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact Macau's casino takings.
The gaming sector’s annual GGR record of 360.7 billion patacas was achieved in 2013. Between 2020 and 2022, casinos’ GGR was significantly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy.
Meanwhile, last month’s GGR grew by 14.8 percent year-on-year to 20.88 billion patacas. Month-on-month, however, GGR was down by 0.95 percent.
Macau’s government-concessioned gaming industry is operated by six rival integrated resort (IR) operators: Sands, Galaxy, SJM, Melco, Wynn, and MGM. Under their concession agreements with the government, the IR operators are required to strengthen their non-gaming attractions and support the promotion of Macau’s cultural heritage and old-quarter renewal projects. The operators pay 35 percent of their GGR as a direct gaming tax to the government, in addition to a further 5.0 percent in levies for funding various public causes.
However, the gaming law, amended in 2022, allows the government to reduce these additional levies (officially termed "contributions") for various reasons, such as when operators expand their foreign client markets or face unforeseen adverse developments affecting their business operations.
In the first three quarters of the year, according to the latest available official gaming statistics, baccarat generated 85 percent of local casinos' GGR across their 16 games of chance. Roulette, Europe’s classic game of chance, generated a mere 0.5 percent of GGR.
At the end of the third quarter, Macau’s then still 28 casinos operated 6,000 gaming tables and 12,000 slot machines, according to official statistics.
In 2021, Macau had 42 casinos, a record number in its history of licensed casinos, which began in 1849. Due to the government’s decision some three years ago to clamp down on so-called satellite casinos run by third parties in cooperation with gaming concessionaires, the number of casinos decreased to 20 at the end of last month.
During the gaming industry’s three-year consolidation process, which formally ended on December 31, 2025, the closed satellite casinos’ gaming tables and slot machines, as well as their local employees, were moved to the casinos directly run by gaming concessionaires.
