Macau Springs Back to Life With Best Post-COVID Month, Casino Win Tops $2.6 Billion
The saying that April rain leads to May blossoms seemingly applies to Asia and Macau, China, where casino earnings hit a new peak since COVID-19.
Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, the regulatory body for the city’s gaming industry that counts daily casino revenue and releases its monthly gross gaming revenue (GGR) on the first day of each month, reported that the six casino operators collectively earned MOP21.19 billion (US$2.62 billion) in May 2025. The count shows a 12.4% increase from April and a 5% rise from May 2024.
May’s remarkable results bring year-to-date GGR to around $12.1 billion, which is 1.7% above the level of the casinos at this point last year.
Market Recovery
The 2025 Labor Day celebration in China, which occurs annually on May 1 and honors workers with a week of paid vacation, experienced a resurgence in leisure travel, with Macau emerging as a top choice for numerous mainland visitors.
Macau attracted over 850K tourists from May 1 to May 5. Amid the vibrant holiday period when numerous casino resorts on the Cotai Strip and in downtown Macau reached full capacity, daily GGR surpassed $123.9 million.
Macau’s Statistics and Census Service has not yet published complete visitor data for May, but analysts are predicting a significant year-over-year rise.
With over $2.62 billion, May 2025 marked the casinos' highest GGR month since Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his contentious “zero-COVID” policy in late 2022. Although numerous global leaders had largely terminated their pandemic response measures, Xi persisted with his stringent policies for several additional months, incorporating strict lockdowns and oppressive travel limitations at the slightest indication of a COVID-19 case.
A Glimmer of Hope Emerges
Macau's gaming market has significantly changed compared to its state prior to the pandemic. Under Xi’s directive, the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government expelled VIP junket groups that had long occupied Macau’s private high-roller rooms.
Xi expressed worries regarding the billions in monthly financial outflows from the mainland via the tax haven. Consequently, Macau’s casinos have been compelled to shift their attention to the general public and premium-mass clients.
The casinos were compelled during their December 2022 relicensing, where the SAR seized the chance to mandate the gaming companies to invest over $16 billion in non-gaming facilities. The aim is to draw in nongamblers and shift the region's focus away from gaming, which presently accounts for roughly 80 cents of each tax dollar collected by the local government.
The shifting circumstances dampened analyst forecasts for 2025. However, over five months, viewpoints are gradually shifting.
"Macau has shown that the market demand and earnings are far more resilient than anticipated,” a note from JP Morgan read. Citing ‘better-than-feared’ early results with ‘two consecutive GGR beats’ in April and May, the JP Morgan analysts said the landscape seems to be stabilizing.
JP Morgan predicts additional growth in June, with year-over-year GGR increasing by 3.4%.
