Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated a year-on-year improvement in business performance of the gaming sector in 2016, with the gross value added recording a positive growth. Total receipts of the 10 enterprises that engaged in gaming activities amounted to MOP 229.00 billion in 2016, down by 1.8% year-on-year. The year-on-year decrease in gaming receipts (MOP 227.38 billion) narrowed notably from 34.3% in 2015 to 1.8% in 2016, receipts from food & beverage (MOP 506 million) dropped by 7.6% whereas those from currency exchange (MOP 82 million) rose by 8.6%; meanwhile, interest receipts (MOP 165 million) registered a decrease of 40.7%.
Total expenditure of the gaming sector amounted to MOP 96.93 billion, down by 4.8% year-on-year. Expenditure on Purchase of Goods, Commission Paid & Customer Rebate (MOP 49.48 billion) decreased by 13.2% year-on-year, much lower than the decline of 45.1% in 2015. On the other hand, Operating Expenses increased by 12.7% year-on-year to MOP 23.94 billion, of which expenditure on complimentary goods & services provided to customers (such as hotel accommodation and food & beverage) predominated at MOP10.82 billion, followed by expenses on marketing & publicity at MOP 4.28 billion, with year-on-year increases of 10.2% and 9.3% respectively. Non-operating Expenses (including depreciation and interest paid) totalled MOP 3.65 billion, down by 1.3% year-on-year. Moreover, Compensation of Employees (MOP 19.86 billion) dropped slightly by 0.4% year-on-year, due to a 0.8% decrease in total number of full-time employees (55,794).
Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to economy shifted from the downward trend, edging up by 0.5% year-on-year to MOP 155.44 billion. Moreover, Gross Surplus of the sector in 2016 (MOP 135.58 billion) rebounded slightly by 0.6%, reversing from the declines in previous years. Gross Surplus Ratio went up by 1.4 percentage points to 59.3%. With the successive completion of large-scale tourism and gaming facilities in 2016, Gross Fixed Capital Formation of the gaming sector surged by 170.1% year-on-year to MOP 7.43 billion, owing to the notable increase in acquisition of buildings and electronic gaming equipment.