Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped by 63.8% year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter of 2020, a smaller decline compared to the previous quarter (-68.0%). With a rebound in visitor arrivals following the easing of travel restrictions for Mainland residents to visit Macao, exports of services of Macao fell at a slower rate of 87.5% in the third quarter, of which exports of gaming services and other tourism services went down by 93.6% and 87.9% respectively. Meanwhile, exports of goods soared by 252.2% year-on-year. Domestic demand saw a smaller decrease of 6.1% year-on-year, on account of a slower rate of decline in private consumption expenditure. Imports of goods increased by 17.6% while imports of services slid by 44.1%.

The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, dropped by 0.6% year-on-year in the third quarter.

As there were no new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Macao in the third quarter, economic activity gradually recovered. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market showed a smaller decline of 8.4%, underpinned by the consumption subsidy scheme. Meanwhile, household final consumption expenditure abroad declined by 68.1% owing to the ongoing entry restrictions imposed in different places. The overall private consumption decreased by 16.7% year-on-year.

As the SAR government maintained its expenditure on pandemic prevention and continued providing economic relief measures, government final consumption expenditure recorded a larger increase of 18.6% as against the 16.3% growth in the previous quarter. Net purchases of goods and services rose by 33.9% while compensation of employees went up by 2.7%.

Investment in fixed assets went down by 5.6% year-on-year; construction investment dropped by 10.3% while equipment investment increased by 14.5%. Public construction investment slid by 18.7% year-on-year, and equipment investment fell by 28.2%. As regards private investment, construction investment shrank by 7.2% year-on-year owing to reduced investment in residential projects and the corresponding drop in real estate developers’ operating margin; on the other hand, equipment investment grew by 22.9%.

Merchandise trade showed improvement, with imports and exports of goods rising by 17.6% and 252.2% year-on-year respectively.

As the Mainland lifted travel restrictions to Macao, number of visitor arrivals to Macao surged by 1,409% quarter-to-quarter in the third quarter. Yet, exports of gaming services and other tourism services still recorded year-on-year decreases of 93.6% and 87.9% respectively. Concurrently, imports of services slid by 44.1% year-on-year, owing to a decrease in outbound trips made by residents and a slowdown in other economic activity.

As affected by the pandemic, GDP for the first three quarters of 2020 declined by 59.8% year-on-year in real terms. In terms of the major expenditure components of GDP, private consumption expenditure decreased by 18.1% whereas government final consumption expenditure rose by 13.4%. Investment slid by 15.5%. Exports of goods surged by 75.4% while imports of goods dropped by 12.6%. Exports of services declined by 79.6%, with exports of gaming services falling by 83.6%; in addition, imports of services reduced by 41.3%.