Macau’s gaming industry is off to a hot start in 2024, with the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) reporting gross gaming revenues of MOP$19.33 billion (US$2.40 billion) in January.
Coming off a year of recovery in 2023 which saw Macau’s GGR reach 63% of pre-COVID levels at MOP$183.1 billion (US$22.7 billion), the January result represents a 4.1% increase over December gaming revenues, generating plenty of momentum ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday period.
It was also 67% higher than January 2023, when GGR was MOP$11.58 billion (US$1.44 billion) although still 34.3% down on the January 2019 GGR figure of MOP$29.4 billion (US$3.65 billion).
Only one month in 2023, October, saw Macau operators generate more GGR than the January 2024 GGR result.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley recently predicted Macau-wide GGR to grow by 28% year-on-year in 2024 to around 80% of pre-COVID levels, albeit with greater profitability given the industry’s transition away from VIP and to a mass-focused model.
The DICJ revealed last month that mass gaming tables had accounted for 75% of 4Q23 GGR – up from below 53% in 4Q19.
