The 4.6% decline from MOP18.62b in July to MOP17.77 billion ($2.22 billion) gave the gaming economy a seven-month cumulative GGR of 125.56b, a 10.5% decrease compared to MOP14.26 billion in July 2015.
The 4.5% decline was seen as a good sign of an 8.5% decline last month, all indications of a "new normal" that the game economy is stabilizing and much like the recovery Las Vegas has suffered since the slow economic recovery in the United States.
The figures were on par with the DICJ's government estimates, which were released alongside a report released last month. Last week, Macau's chief executive, Chusaion, told reporters he had to wait and see a three-year recession and a recovery in real growth in the special administrative region. The optimistic outlook is in line with the Economist's GDP forecast released in June, predicting that Macau's real gross domestic product will decline year over year, but that the rise in economic indicators will almost offset this year's GDP decline.
China's National Bureau of Statistics says the service sector (which includes games in part) accounts for 94.3% of Macau's GDP. Some estimates placed the game at 60% of Macau's gross domestic product. As gaming revenue improves, so will the rest of the economy. According to a May report by the Macau Statistical Survey, GDP in the first quarter of 2016 fell by more than 13% year-on-year "mainly due to continued declines in service exports and reduced investment."
The decline in VIP games in Macau may never be completely replaced by mass market gamblers, but the government is exerting influence to allow non-game income to take up a larger share of the economy by 2020. The target growth rate for casino non-game income is set at 6.6% from 9% last year.
Wynn Palace at Wynn Macao Ltd. in Cotai on August 22 and Parisian Macao at Sands China Ltd. in mid-September are also expected to significantly impact 2016 figures. MGM Cotai and Grand Lisboa Palace will also open . The base figures must also be raised at Stephen Hung's The13 Luxury Hotel and City of Dreams 5th Hotel Tower in Coloane.
