I have been to Macau 5 times I think. Usually, it’s part of the Hong Kong trip because somehow I think Hong Kong has far more attractions. 😛 Here’s one latest news about Macau. By 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Macau will would overtake oil-rich Qatar with the highest per-capita gross domestic product of any country or jurisdiction on earth. In numbers? Macau currently has US$122,489 per capita GDP, second behind Qatar which is at US$128,702. Singapore was ranked fourth with US$98,014, just behind Luxembourg with US$110,870 while Hong Kong took 10th place with a per capita GDP of US$64,533. (Yes, Singaporeans on an average basis has a higher per capita GDP than Hong Kong yeah. By the way, HongKong’s population is 7.4 million versus 5.8 million for Singapore. This may explain a bit on the GDP per capita yeah) . Full article in NST here.
IMF expects continuing economic growth in Macau, the casino hub and it will leapfrog Qatar by 2020. Macau will have a per capita GDP of US$143,116 while Qatar will only reach US$139,151. In fact IMF sees Macau continuing to open up a gap versus its rivals until 2023. Macau has only a of just over 650,000 but all are packed into just 30.8 sq km which meant that Macau also holds top spot as the most densely populated place on Earth, according to the United Nations. This meant that the casino city has 21,322 people per square kilometre packed into its bustling streets. Hong Kong is fourth most densely populated place on the planet behind Monaco and Singapore and it has 6,490 people per square kilometre. Of course this is also because Hong Kong is much larger. Within Hong Kong, in MongKok for example, the population density is more than 120,000 people per square kilometre, according to the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Full article in NST here.
Macau’s property market price lags that in Hong Kong despite them being just an hour away via high-speed ferry. This may change in the near future yeah. Here’s that article in South China Morning Post. Analysts say that the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge later this year will narrow the gap between Hong Kong and Macau house prices. An analyst, Raymond Kwok, associate director at Guo Du Real Estate even predicted that as soon as the bridge opens the residential property market in Macau could experience growth of anywhere between 5 per cent and 10 per cent. That’s quite a good number if this is just the start. Then again, remember that property prices in Macau would still be following that of Hong Kong and unlikely to exceed it unless suddenly people prefer to stay in Macau versus Hong Kong. Happy visiting both in the near future.
written on 17 Aug 2018
Next suggested article: China’s Hong Kong with a Hong Kong town in China. A rail based plan
