Macau GDP Growth Confirmed at 7.1%

Macau's economy expanded 7.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, easing from 7.6% growth in the last quarter of 2025 and confirming preliminary estimates. The expansion marked the fourth consecutive quarter of economic growth, supported primarily by strong external demand and a 13.7% increase in tourist arrivals, benefiting from the Lunar New Year holiday and a series of festive activities. Overall export services increased 12.8%, supported by gaming services exports (13%) and other tourism services (17.5%). Meanwhile, domestic demand growth was supported by strong growth in private consumption (3.4%), imports (4%) and changes in inventory (23.5%). However, gross fixed capital formation contracted sharply by 21.0%, reflecting weaker investment activity across both the private sector (-33.8%) and the public sector (-11.4%).

Macau’s economy expanded by 7.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, easing from the 7.6% growth recorded in the same period of 2025, according to preliminary estimates. Despite the slowdown, it marked the fourth consecutive period of economic expansion, supported primarily by a robust increase in exports of services due to surging visitor arrivals amid the Lunar New Year holidays and a series of major festive events. On the domestic front, private consumption expenditure continued to show steady resilience, growing by 2.8% year-on-year. However, government spending declined by 4.8%, while gross fixed capital formation fell sharply by 21.9%.

Macau’s economy grew by 7.6% year-on-year in Q4 2025, following a downwardly revised 7.3% growth in the previous quarter, in line with preliminary estimates. This marked the third consecutive month of expansion and the sharpest since the first quarter of 2024, as exports of services advanced 9.8% from 9.6% in Q3, driven by a 15.4% increase in visitor arrivals, along with gains in other tourism services (3.7%) and gaming services (18%). Gross fixed capital formation recovered (1.3% vs -25.9%), reflecting a rebound in both private and government construction investment projects. In addition, changes in inventories (-1.1% vs -3.4%) declined at a slower pace. Meanwhile, domestic expenditures weighed on the economy, with decreases in government spending (2.1% vs 6.4%) and consumer spending (0.7% vs 1.3%). For the full year, Macau’s GDP expanded by 4.7%.