Macau's economy expanded by 3.7% year-on-year in real terms during the first half of 2026, supported by higher tourism activity and continued growth in gaming service exports.
Revised GDP reached MOP209.91bn ($25.97bn), according to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), equivalent to 89.1% of economic output recorded during the same period in 2019.
Exports of services increased 7.3% during the six-month period. Gaming service exports rose 5.5%, while exports of other tourism services increased 10.8%, showing faster growth outside the gaming component of Macau's visitor economy.
The figures coincided with a 9.0% increase in visitor arrivals to 20.94 million. Same-day arrivals grew 15.3% to 12.89 million, compared with growth of 0.2% among overnight visitors, which reached 8.05 million.
Mainland China remained Macau's largest source market, with arrivals increasing 11.0% to 15.29 million.
Macau visitor mix - H1 2026
Breakdown of Macau's 20.94 million visitor arrivals during the first half of 2026 by same-day and overnight visitors.
Higher visitation also fed through to spending outside casinos. Visitor non-gaming expenditure increased 17.4% to MOP44.47bn during the first half, while per-capita spending rose 7.8%.
Gaming continued to contribute to growth despite a softer end to the period. Casino GGR reached MOP126.90bn during the first six months of 2026, up 6.8%. However, June GGR fell 12.1% to MOP18.52bn, following positive year-on-year growth in each of the first five months.
The slowdown was also visible in the wider economy. Second-quarter GDP increased just 0.3% year-on-year to MOP102.35bn, compared with the stronger performance implied by the first-half result.
Service exports grew 1.6% during the quarter, while net external demand declined 2.5% as goods imports increased. Economic output in Q2 remained at 87.9% of its 2019 level.
Domestic demand produced a mixed picture across the half year. Private consumption expenditure increased 2.7%, while government final consumption expenditure fell 0.2% and gross fixed capital formation declined 9.3%.
Macau's non-gaming tourism segments have also recorded higher spending. Earlier in August, DSEC reported that Q2 MICE participation increased 37.6% to 314,000, while MICE-driven non-gaming receipts rose 54.8% to MOP1.59bn.
Macau hotel room occupancy averaged 90.4% in the first half of 2026, up 1.3 percentage points year-on-year, despite hotel guest numbers declining 1.1%
