Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2018 expanded by 1.6% year-on-year in real terms. The economy grew at a slower pace, mainly due to a continuous decline in construction investment and a notable slowdown in growth of exports of services. External demand growth eased; exports of services rose by 6.3% year-on-year, in which exports of gaming services and other tourism services went up by 5.8% and 11.4% respectively; meanwhile, exports of goods dropped by 8.8%. Domestic demand weakened, with investment declining substantially by 20.1% year-on-year in the third quarter; private consumption expenditure, government final consumption expenditure and imports of goods increased by 4.1%, 5.4% and 2.9% respectively. The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, went up by 3.8% year-on-year.
Private consumption showed moderate growth. Total employment and employment earnings increased amid satisfactory employment situation, driving private consumption expenditure up by 4.1% year-on-year, smaller than the 5.9% growth in the previous quarter. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market and abroad increased by 3.8% and 5.9% respectively.
Government final consumption expenditure grew at a faster rate of 5.4% year-on-year, larger than the 4.4% rise in the previous quarter; compensation of employees and net purchases of goods and services went up by 2.7% and 8.4% respectively.
Investment slackened. Gross fixed capital formation, the gauge of investment, contracted by 20.1% year-on-year, accelerating from the 13.8% drop in the second quarter. Private investment fell by 17.8% year-on-year, in which construction investment declined by 20.6% owing to a notable drop in large-scale construction projects and equipment investment edged down by 1.0%. Government investment slid by 32.7% year-on-year, in which public construction plunged by 45.7% upon the successive completion of infrastructure projects; meanwhile, equipment investment expanded by 53.0%.
Merchandise trade grew at a much slower rate. Total merchandise trade inched up by 1.4% year-on-year, in which imports of goods increased by 2.9% but exports of goods dropped by 8.8%.
Service trade was the major driving force for economic growth. Increases in visitor arrivals and visitors’ spending drove total exports of services up by 6.3% year-on-year, far smaller than the 11.9% rise in the second quarter; exports of gaming services and other tourism services grew by 5.8% and 11.4% respectively. Meanwhile, imports of services increased by 3.0% year-on-year, slower than the 14.6% growth in the previous quarter.
In the first three quarters of 2018, the economy of Macao expanded by 5.6% year-on-year in real terms. With respect to the major expenditure components of GDP, private consumption expenditure increased by 5.1%; government final consumption expenditure rose by 4.0%; investment decreased by 11.2%; exports of goods and services grew by 10.6% and 11.1%, and imports of goods and services went up by 6.0% and 15.3% respectively. Moreover, exports of gaming services and other tourism services, which constitute a significant portion of total exports of services, went up by 11.7% and 12.6% respectively in the first three quarters.
Growth estimates were revised as more information became available. Economic growth for 2017 was revised upward to 9.7%. The rate of growth for the first quarter of 2018 was revised up to 9.4%, and that for the second quarter was revised down to 5.9%.