Macao

Major Social and Economic Indicators (2024)

Note: the above figures are provided by the Macao SAR Government
* 2023 data
^ 2022 data

• Macao is located in the Pearl River Delta in the southern Guangdong Province on the western side of the Pearl River estuary, adjoining the city of Zhuhai to the north, and 60km away from Hong Kong across the sea. Macao consists of three parts: the Macao Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane. The Macao Peninsula is the centre of urban development in Macao, while Taipa and Coloane, which were originally two separated islands, are connected by land reclamation. The reclamation area is developed into Cotai which hosts many large hotels and resorts.
• Macao pursues an open economic policy. Its tax rate is among the lowest in the region. Fiscal system is sound. There is no limit in foreign exchange. It is a free port and has its own customs territory. Macao is an economy with strong economic vitality in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also an important gateway linking Mainland China with international markets.
• Since the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the economy has maintained high growth rates driven by the tourism and gambling industries. The gambling and junket activities are the main pillars of Macao, accounted for 15.2% of its overall industrial structure in 2022.

Economic and Trade Relations Between Macao and Hong Kong

• In 2023, the total value of trade between Hong Kong and Macao reached HK$89.1 billion.
• On trade in goods, Macao was Hong Kong's 17th largest trading partner in 2023.
• On trade in services, Macao ranked 24th among Hong Kong's trading partners in 2022. Bilateral trade in services amounted to about HK$4.9 billion in 2022.
• On investment, Macao was the 19th largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Hong Kong and 12th largest recipient of FDI from Hong Kong in 2022.
• The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (HK-Macao CEPA) was signed on 27 October 2017. The HK-Macao CEPA covers, amongst others, trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property, and economic and technical cooperation. The commitments go beyond those undertaken by Hong Kong and Macao under the World Trade Organisation, providing enhanced legal certainty to market access or treatment to one another. The HK-Macao CEPA entered into force on the date of signature and the liberalisation of trade in goods and services provided for therein has been implemented on 1 January 2018.
  
  The Central Government promulgated on 5 September 2021 the Plan for the Development of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin (Hengqin Plan), which creates favourable conditions for the diversified development of Macao and provide many facilitating measures for the development of its industries. The Hong Kong SAR Government will explore how Hong Kong can provide support for and contribute to the implementation of the Hengqin Plan through the existing co-operation mechanism with the Macao Special Administrative Region Government.

Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Bases

• The Macao Young Entrepreneur Incubation Centre commenced operation in 2018 and is the first national co-working space in Macao. It provides young people of Macao with a wide range of entrepreneurship support services, including enquiry service, business registration, professional consultation and business matching. It also offers temporary office space for free. The centre facilitates youth participation in the development of the Greater Bay Area and proactively takes forward the close cooperation with incubation centres in the Mainland. Through mutual recognition of youth entrepreneurship projects with the Mainland, it recommends young people of Macao to settle in incubation centres in the Mainland to assist them in starting a business in the Mainland.
• Established by the Government of Macao SAR, the Sino-Portuguese Young Start-ups and Innovation Centre commenced in 2017. Located in the Macao Young Entrepreneur Incubation Centre, it promotes exchange and cooperation among young people of the Mainland, Macao and the Portuguese-speaking countries in the area of entrepreneurship. It also serves as a platform which fosters creativity, attracts talents and enables resource sharing.

For Macao's key measures on taking forward the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, please refer to the website of Macao SAR Government (in Chinese and Portuguese only).