Macao's GDP to grow by 70 pct in H1: association

MACAO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Macao's GDP for the first half of 2023 is expected to grow by 70 percent, recovering to around 65 percent of the average figure from 2017 to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Macao Economic Association said on Saturday.

The GDP for the second quarter of the year is likely to more than double from a year ago, according to the latest estimations on Macao's economic climate index and economic growth released by the association.

Broad money supply, or M2, a leading indicator for the economic climate, maintained an upward trend year on year for six consecutive months.

Visitor arrivals in May totaled 2.21 million, about 3.7 times the figure of the same period of last year, but down 2.6 percent month-on-month, showed the studies.

Data of hotel guest number, hotel occupancy rate, total employment and general unemployment rate all showed that the local tourism and related industries were recovering at a relatively fast speed.

The association rated the economic climate index for May and June at a "stable" level of 5.2 points. It expected the index to rise to between 5.6 and 5.8 from July to September thanks to the tourism surge in summer holiday and boosted confidence of local consumers.