Macau's casinos had another successful month in February.

Macau benefited last month from the Chinese New Year landing in February in its entirety. The majority of mainland employees were granted paid time off during the nine-day holiday, which lasted from February 15 to February 23. In contrast to the 2025 Lunar New Year, which fell in January and February, this is different.

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macau reports that February gross gambling revenue (GGR) from games of chance reached MOP20.62 billion (US$2.55 billion). The win at the casino represented a 4.5% increase over the previous year.

The six casino concessionaires generated a total of $2.55 billion, which exceeded the predicted 1% increase in GGR. After the first few days of the Chinese New Year were reported to be low, projections were lowered. However, a increase in late-week travel caused casino income to exceed $150 million every day.

Almost 14% more than in January–February 2025, Sands, Galaxy, Wynn, MGM, Melco, and SJM have won $5.36 billion from gamblers over the course of two months.

New Market, New Year

According to the Macau Government Tourism Office, around 1.55 million visitors traveled to Macau over the Chinese New Year period. Hong Kong and Macau are two of China's two Special Administrative Regions, and both are well-liked locations for Lunar New Year celebrations.

Since the MGTO started tracking holiday traffic in 2006, the 1.55 million visitors tallied at Macau's border gates was a record high. Macau's post-pandemic recovery continued last year, with GGR up 35% over 2023 and 9.1% higher than 2024.

The gaming business in Macau has effectively switched from prioritizing high rollers to prioritizing mass markets and premium clientele. Beijing ordered the local government to crack down on VIP junket groups, which forced the casinos' hand through their 2022 relicensing.

That's the reason GGR grew only 4.5%, despite 300K additional people traveling to Macau for the Chinese New Year in 2026 compared to 2025 and the holiday falling entirely in February. Asian analysts say that Macau casino resorts with more emphasis on premium mass and non-gaming attractions probably gained the most from the increase in traffic during the New Year period.

The consensus GGR forecast for March is MOP22.2 billion (US$2.75 billion), which is around 13% year-on-year growth.

Middle East Concerns

Following the United States and Israel's weekend airstrikes on Iran, tourism and March gaming income might be affected in the Middle East. According to economists, China would be one of the biggest losers of the Iran takedown, which may have an impact on mainlanders' recreational spending and their capacity for internal travel.

"For a global economy that’s been muddling through Trump’s tariff rollout and growing uncertainty over the impact of Artificial Intelligence on labor markets, the latest spike in Middle East tensions adds yet more uncertainty,” read a note from TD Securities.

“Chinese refiners would be impacted if Iranian barrels are disrupted, given they import an estimated 99% of Iranian exports, equivalent to about 13% of Chinese seaborne crude imports in 2025,” the note continued.