Macau GGR sinks 65.8% year-on-year to MOP$7.82 billion in December. According to figures released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau on Friday, Macau’s gaming operators reported gross gaming income of MOP$7.82 billion (US$977.5 million) in December, down 65.8 percent year-on-year but still the highest total since January.
The outcome in December represents an increase of 15.9 percent over November figures, when GGR hit MOP$6.75 billion (US$845.5 million). However, it is the 15th consecutive month of declines year-on-year extending back to October 2019.
Rising revenues through December reflect a recent increase in visitation to Macau during the holiday period, with the Macao Government Tourism Office announcing this week that visitor arrivals had averaged 24,503 per day between 23 to 27 December. The daily average was 20.2% higher than the first 22 days of the month, 15.5% higher than November and 30.5% higher than October arrivals.
With the Individual Visit Scheme of mainland China steadily restored from August as the COVID-19 pandemic eased, Macau’s GGR figures started to trend upwards from October when GGR increased to MOP$7.27 billion (US$911 million) by 229 percent sequentially. At just MOP$716 million (US$89.6 million), monthly GGR numbers hit their lowest point in June, down 97.0 percent year-on-year.
With December now in the books, Macau’s total gross gaming revenue for 2020 reached a total of MOP$60.44 billion (US$7.56 billion), down 79.3% year-on-year.
[image: Healthycliff Syndor]
