Macau’s casino gaming revenue slipped back into negative growth in 2019 following the market’s largest year-on-year monthly decline in December.

Figures released on New Year’s Day by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) show the casinos in the special administrative region of China generated gaming revenue of MOP22.84b (US$2.84b) in the month of December, a 13.7% decline from the same month last year.

The year-on-year decline is the largest recorded in 2019, in large part due to the mid-month visit to Macau by China’s President Xi Jinping, who arrived to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the handover of control over Macau from Portugal to China.

Security concerns surrounding President Xi’s arrival required temporary restrictions on Chinese residents’ travel to Macau, resulting in the casino market’s first and only double-digit monthly gaming revenue decline in 2019.