Results of the 1st quarter of 2005 Estimates of the expenditure-based Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) releases information on the expenditure-based GDP for the first quarter of 2005 as follows. Growth rates refers to the real growth rates of the reference period over the same period of the previous year, unless otherwise specified. In the first quarter of 2005, the GDP resumed to a normal pace at 8.5% real growth after a rapid expansion in 2004, lower than the 18.1% in the fourth quarter of 2004. Gross gaming receipts went up 11.7% in nominal terms and total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) rose 3.6% as the number of visitor arrivals increased. Investment continued to grow rapidly on the back of several large-scale construction projects in progress. Besides the gaming and tourism sector, investment was another driving force behind Macao’s economic growth. However, exports of goods fell 18.9%. In terms of major GDP components, private consumption expenditure in the first quarter of 2005 increased 8.3%, higher than the 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2004. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market and abroad rose 6.0% and 22.9% respectively. The government final consumption expenditure increased 5.9%, higher than the 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2004. Compensation of employees went up 3.4% and net purchases of goods and services surged 32.5%. Gross fixed capital formation, a gauge of investment, rose substantially by 39.2%, indicating a sustained robust expansion though the growth rate was slightly lower than the 39.4% in the fourth quarter of 2004. In the private sector, total investment recorded an increase of 43.9% mainly because investment in construction went up 88.6%; investment in equipment only rose 1.2%. On the other hand, total government investment dropped 55.8%, among which investment in construction fell 59.0% and that in equipment decreased 9.5%. Based on the data of the private sector and the government, total investment in construction expanded 75.7% in the first quarter of 2005, higher than the 45.1% in the fourth quarter of 2004; total investment in equipment increased 1.2%, lower than the 28.3% in the fourth quarter of 2004. In terms of visible trade, total export value of goods decreased 18.1% in nominal terms and 18.9% in real terms, reversing the upward trend that started in 2002. In nominal terms, exports of goods to the United States and the European Union fell 12.0% and 58.1% respectively. On the contrary, total import value of goods grew owing to an increase in demand, up 4.7% and 2.4% in nominal and real terms respectively, both lower than the corresponding 19.9% and 16.1% in the fourth quarter of 2004. As regards invisible trade (exports of services), exports of gaming services rose 11.6%; visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) increased as a result of a rising number of visitor arrivals; however, the increase was largely attributed to lower spending same-day visitors, and thus the total visitor spending grew only 3.6%; exports of transportation services surged 54.1%. Based on integrated data of the exports of services, total exports of invisible trade recorded an increase of 10.9%, down from the 25.3% in the fourth quarter of 2004. Moreover, imports of services grew 17.6%, lower than the 24.5% in the fourth quarter of 2004. Please see the attachment!