Taxes collected from Macau’s gambling sector jumped 17.5 percent in the first nine months of the year, latest data provided by the city’s Financial Services Bureau show.

Macau’s fiscal revenue from direct taxes on gaming surged to MOP68.64 billion (US$8.54 billion) in the January to September 2017 period compared to MOP58.4 billion ($7.27 billion) in the same period last year.

The former Portuguese enclave’s casino gross gaming revenue was also robust in the nine months to September 2017, growing 18.8 percent to MOP193.38 billion ($24.06 billion).

The Macau government’s total revenue in the first three quarters was MOP84.89 billion ($10.56 billion), with the gaming sector contributing 80.9 percent of this sum.