Macau Non-Gambling Spending Rises, in Line with Diversification Efforts
Macau’s non-gaming spending by visitors has continued to swell, amid continued efforts to diversify the local tourism industry and end the region’s reliance on casinos. The most recent statistics show that tourists spent 10% more on things other than gaming in the third quarter of 2025.
Macau
The Non-Gaming Spend Is on the Rise
Macau authorities have been trying to diversify the region’s income and end its historic over-reliance on gambling. The latest data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) suggests that these efforts may finally be yielding results, Macau Daily reported.
Statistics and Census Service
Macau Daily
The DSEC reported non-gaming spend of MOP 20.4 billion ($2.55 billion) for Q3 2025, marking a 10.7% increase year-on-year. This was in part due to a 7.6% increase in spending by overnight visitors to MOP 16.8 billion ($2.1 billion), according to the report. The overall non-gaming spend also reflected a 27.6% increase in the spending of same-day visitors to MOP 3.6 billion ($0.45 billion).
MOP 20.4 billion
MOP 16.8 billion
MOP 3.6 billion
On a year-to-date basis, visitors spent MOP 58.25 billion ($7.3 billion) on things other than gaming, marking a 3.6% increase year-on-year.
MOP 58.25 billion
DSEC Reports Increase in Low-Spending Same-Day Visitors
The breakthrough suggests that 42.4% of the total non-gaming spend was spent on shopping. Accommodation was also a major driver of non-gaming spend and was responsible for 26.7% of the total figure. In the meantime, 21.2% of visitors’ non-gaming expenses were food and beverage-related.
However, the favorable non-gaming spend figure was somewhat offset by an overall decrease in per-capita non-gaming expenditure. The latter metric experienced a 2.6% decrease to MOP 1,950 ($244), suggesting a surge in low-spending same-day visitors. On a year-to-date basis, per-capita spending decreased by 9.5% to MOP 1,963 ($245).
MOP 1,950
MOP 1,963
The decrease was driven by a 5% drop in per-capita spending of mainland China visitors to MOP 2,123. This decrease was partially offset by a 0.1% increase in per-capita spending of Hong Kong visitors to MOP 1,063, a 9.8% increase in the spending of tourists from Taiwan to MOP 2,335, and a 3.3% increase in the spending of international visitors to MOP 2,261.
