The gaming city left Las Vegas in its wake many years ago, but according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it will overtake Qatar in two short years, gaming money trumping oil money, to bag the highest per-capital gross domestic product in the world.
Not long ago the prognosis was looking dire in Macau. The all-important flow of mainland Chinese to the Las Vegas of the East was down, gaming revenue was suffering and hotels were scrambling to diversify to family and foodie pursuits.
What a difference a handful of months makes. The latest news is that Macau will be the richest place on the planet by 2020.
The gaming city left Las Vegas in its wake many years ago, but according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it will overtake Qatar in two short years, gaming money trumping oil money, to bag the highest per-capital gross domestic product in the world.
Currently lying in second place, Macau’s US$122,489 per capita GDP puts it just behind Qatar’s US$128,702 and ahead of Luxembourg’s US$110,870 and Singapore’s US$98,014. Neighbour Hong Kong is in 10th spot with US$64,533.
The IMF anticipates Macau’s 2020 per capita GDP will reach US$143,116, leading Qatar’s forecast of US$139,151 for the same year, and the organisation expects Macau to keep pulling ahead at least until 2023.
Macau’s 30.8 square kilometres has already taken the less salubrious award of the most densely populated place in the world, packing in a population of 650,000, equating to 21,322 people per square kilometre. And that doesn’t even take into account the millions of visitors, which in 2017 amounted to over 32 million.
Naturally the high GDP doesn’t necessarily promise a world-leading lifestyle. “In terms of quality of life, green areas, pollution, education, health, sport, renewable energies, recycling of urban waste, hygiene and cleanliness of public spaces, accessibility for disabled people, road cycling, public transport might not rank quite as high by any means,” reminds lawyer and social commentator Sergio Almeida Correia in his blog.