Macau gambling revenues totaled 361.866 billion patacas (US$45.233 billion) in 2013, representing a year-on-year rise of 18.55 percent, the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (GICB) said.

Total revenues include casino gaming, horse and dog racing, Chinese lotteries, scratch cards and betting on soccer and basketball games. Casino gaming revenues totaled 360.749 billion patacas (US$45.093 billion), which was a year-on-year rise of 18.61 percent. The remaining 1.117 billion patacas were spent on other types of gambling.

Baccarat, both VIP and standard versions, accounted for 91.51 percent of total gambling revenues or 330.123 billion patacas. Slot machine revenues totaled 14.384 billion patacas and “cussec” revenues were 6.756 billion patacas.

At the end of 2013 there were 35 casinos in Macau, 20 of which were owned by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, six by Galaxy Casino, four by Venetian Macau, three by Melco Crown Jogos (Macau) and one each by Wynn Resorts and MGM Grand Paradise. Altogether, Macau gambling had a total of 5746 tables and 15,310 slot machines.

Macau gambling has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalized the activity in the autonomous colony. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the “Gambling capital of the world”. It is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.

Gambling tourism is Macau’s biggest source of revenue, making up about 50% of the economy. Visitors are largely from mainland China and Hong Kong. With the entry of large foreign casinos from Las Vegas and Australia, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gambling revenues in 2007.