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Read Full BioFigures for May 2025 show Macau’s casino industry recorded its most substantial monthly post-pandemic gross gaming revenue (GGR), hitting $2.62 billion.
Results for May show a 5% year-on-year (YoY) increase. The rise was fueled by China’s Labour Day Golden Week, as well as benefiting from a strategic hospitality launch event.
The Labour Day holiday event, which ran from May 1 to 5, reportedly brought in nearly 850,000 visitors to the region.
As a consequence, casino visitor numbers were also up, which insiders estimate meant gaming floors saw revenue returns of over $124 million per day during the peak holiday period.
In addition to the Golden Week celebrations, May’s calendar encompassed five Saturdays, which, given Macau’s tendency to generate 20% more revenue on the weekends, also bolstered totals.
Before May 2025, Macau’s best post-pandemic tally saw casinos collect a monthly high of $2.58 billion in October 2024. The region’s latest figures also mark a 12.4% rise from April 2025, sustaining hopes for a continued revival in the world’s largest gambling hub.
Luxury Launch Drives Macau VIP Growth
Another driving factor for May’s results was the soft opening of Capella at Galaxy Macau, which bolstered VIP numbers by drawing in more high-rolling visitors from Asia.
As a result, the new luxury hotel launch reportedly boosted VIP turnover by 25-30%, raising GGR by $85.06 million in the third week of May alone.
Having reviewed Capella’s initial results, analysts from HSBC and UBS both suggested the VIP win rates were 3.5% to 3.7%, which helped support the sector’s above-average revenue performance.
Consequently, both institutions have since raised their GGR projections for May, with HSBC increasing its estimated outlook for the month to between $26.1 and $26.9 billion.
However, despite the region’s continued recovery, year-to-date gross gaming revenue stands at $12.1 billion, representing a 1.7% increase from the same period in 2024.
This puts Macau’s monthly average returns at $2.42 billion this year, slightly below the desired $2.48 billion per month required to keep pace with the government’s annual target of $29.7 billion.
Incremental Growth Still Some Way Away from Pre-Pandemic Levels
While May’s figures remain promising, Macau’s GGR for the first five months of 2025 equates to just 77.7% of that recorded during the same period in 2019. Nevertheless, analysts still maintain that the data reflects an overall upward trend toward pre-pandemic levels.
Irrespective of the optimistic outlook, Macau is now prepping itself for a precarious June, as experts predict the likely traditional seasonal dip in visitor numbers. Additionally, the looming threat of the typhoon season will further reduce visitor numbers.
