Macau gambling revenue drops for sixth consecutive month

Macau gaming statistics for November have confirmed analysts’ fears that for the sixth consecutive month the island gambling haven has delivered declining revenues.

Numbers from the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau show a decline of 19.6 percent in revenues compared to the same period a year ago as China’s pervasive war on corruption and slowing economic growth suppress punters’ appetite for gambling.

Gambling revenue from Macau’s 35 casinos fell to 24.3 billion patacas ($3.04 billion) in November, down from 33.5 billion patacas in 2013, and around the middle of the range expected by analysts, the Reuters news agency reports.

The decline is the worst suffered by Macau since 2008-2009, when the global credit crunch saw revenues plunging for seven months running.

November’s decline was less that that experienced in October this year, when the gambling sector took its biggest hit ever with revenue dropping 23 percent compared to October 2013, admittedly a particularly good month back then.

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