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MACAO, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Macao's economy has expanded by 4 percent in the third quarter of 2016, recording the first positive quarterly growth for the past two years, the special administrative region's statistics authority said Tuesday.
Macao's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) said in its latest reports that the growth is attributable to a rebound in both exports of services and investment. External demand also showed improvement, leading to a pickup in exports of gaming services and exports of other tourism services.
Thanks to increases in visitor arrivals and spending, Q3 exports of services grew by 3.3 percent year-on-year, putting an end to the two-year downtrend. Exports of gaming services and other tourism services increased by 0.2 percent and 6.5 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, imports of services in the third quarter rose by 6.2 percent year-on-year, improving from the 3.1 percent drop in the second quarter.
According to DSEC, another contributor of growth is investment. Gross fixed capital formation, the gauge of investment, grew by 2.3 percent year-on-year, rebounding from the second quarter 20 percent drop. Private investment in construction and equipment increased by 1.3 percent and 11.2 percent respectively.
Decline in merchandise trade slowed down in the third quarter, as overall demand stabilized with private consumption, investment and visitor spending showing modest growth. Both imports and exports of goods decreased at a slower rate by 7.3 percent and 15.6 percent respectively year-on-year, far lower than the 17.0 percent and 24.7 percent decline in the second quarter.
DSEC also revised the growth rate for the first and second quarters of 2016 from -13.3 percent and -7.1 percent to -12.4 percent and -7.0 percent respectively. In the first three quarters of 2016, Macao's economy still contracted by 5.4 percent.
