According to data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Macau generated MOP$398m (US$49m) for July, the city’s worst monthly performance since the pandemic began.
This also represents an approximately 95% drop in GGR year-on-year, falling from MOP$8.44bn, and continues a general downward trend.
For June, Macau reported MOP$2.47bn, which constitutes a 62% decrease year-on-year, while May and April saw the city post 68% GGR losses.
In fact, so far this year, every month except February has seen Macau post double-digit GGR decreases when compared to 2021.
Much of this can be attributed to Macau’s enforcement of China’s Zero Covid policy. An outbreak in mid-July saw the city once more plunged into lockdown, with casinos among those properties forced to close.
While this only lasted for less than two weeks, with casinos opening on Saturday 23 July, other restrictions remain, and their negative financial impact has clearly been enormous.
As a result of these restrictions, travel between Macau and the Chinese mainland has been difficult, severely limiting the number of potential casino customers.
This also comes as the city’s casino industry attempts to recover from a painful, pandemic-stricken past two years.
In 2019, before the pandemic began, each month saw Macau report GGR in excess of MOP$20bn, but since February 2020, the city hasn’t even managed to break the MOP$10bn mark, with the sole exception of May 2021.
