Macau recorded gross gaming revenue of MOP$183.1 billion (US$22.7 billion) in 2023, representing a 334% year-on-year increase and marking a phenomenal recovery since borders reopened for the first time in almost three years in January.
The FY23 result comes on the back of a strong finish to the year, with December seeing GGR of MOP$18.57 billion (US$2.30 billion) – up 433% year-on-year and 15.7% higher than November, making it the second highest revenue month of the year after October. It also means gaming revenues have rebounded back to 62.6% of 2019 levels, when GGR reached MOP$292.5 billion (US$36.3 billion).
However, the fact that FY23 has come in above MOP$180 billion is significant for the city’s concessionaires: as reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the new 10-year gaming concessions signed by all six operators in December 2022 included a stipulation that their non-gaming investment commitments will increase by 20% should Macau-wide GGR exceed MOP$180 billion in any of the first five years of the new concession period, meaning any year from 2023 to 2027 inclusive.
In the end this “trigger event” was achieved in the very first year of the new concessions.
Macau’s six concessionaires had already committed to spend a combined MOP$108.7 billion in non-gaming investment commitments over the 10-year period of their current concessions, which run from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2032.
