Macau
Macau Special Administrative Region
executive-led limited democracyIndependence none (special administrative region of China)
Macau as the 2024 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 129 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
Portuguese ships began arriving in 1513. In the 1550s, Portuguese paying tribute to China settled in Macau, which became the official entrepôt for all international trade with China and Japan and the first European settlement in the Far East. The first governor was appointed in the 17th century, but the Portuguese remained largely under the control of the Chinese. In the 1930s and ’40s Macau was declared a neutral territory during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II and became a refuge for both Chinese and Europeans. Portugal officially made Macau an overseas province in 1951.
In April 1987, Portugal and China reached an agreement to return Macau to Chinese rule in 1999, using the Hong Kong Joint Declaration between China and the UK as a model. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's political and economic system would not be imposed on Macau, and that Macau would enjoy a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign affairs and defense for the next 50 years.
However, after China's multi-year crackdown against the pro-democracy movement in nearby Hong Kong, the governments of China and the Macau Special Administrative Region worked to limit Macau's political autonomy by suppressing opposition activity in the 2021 legislative elections.
Geography
Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
17 fieldsLand useshare of 28 sq km
Geography - note
- essentially urban;
- an area of land reclaimed from the sea measuring 5.2 sq km and known as Cotai now connects the islands of Coloane and Taipa;
- the island area is connected to the mainland peninsula by three bridges
People and Society
29 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2024 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2024 est.)
Male · female(2021)
Ethnic groups(2021 est.)
Religions(2020 est.)
Languages
Cantonese 81%, Mandarin 4.7%, other Chinese dialects 5.4%, English 3.6%, Tagalog 2.9%, Portuguese 0.6%, other 1.8% (2021 est.); major-language sample(s): 世界概况, 必須擁有的基本資料参考书 (Cantonese); The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. note: Chinese and Portuguese are official languages; Macanese or Patua, a Portuguese-based Creole, is also spoken
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- 0-14 years:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years:
- 0.87 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.89 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 0.9 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate
- total:
- 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
- male:
- 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births
- female:
- 4.3 deaths/1,000 live births
Environment
8 fieldsLand use(2018 est.)
Environment - current issues
- air pollution;
- coastal waters pollution;
- insufficient policies in reducing and recycling solid wastes;
- increasing population density worsening noise pollution
Urbanization
- urban population:
- 100% of total population (2023)
- rate of urbanization:
- 1.46% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Waste and recycling
- municipal solid waste generated annually:
- 377,942 tons (2016 est.)
- municipal solid waste recycled annually:
- 75,588 tons (2014 est.)
- percent of municipal solid waste recycled:
- 20% (2014 est.)
Government
Executive-led limited democracy; President of China XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013); Chief Executive HO lat Seng (since 20 December 2019)
20 fieldsPresidential electionpercent of vote
Legislature, elected 12 September 2021percent of vote
Composition: men NA, women NA, percentage women NA%
Country name
- conventional long form:
- Macau Special Administrative Region
- conventional short form:
- Macau
- official long form:
- Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese)/ Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese)
- official short form:
- Aomen (Chinese)/ Macau (Portuguese)
- etymology:
- name is thought to derive from the A-Ma Temple - built in 1488 and dedicated to Mazu, the goddess of seafarers and fishermen - which is referred to locally as "Maa Gok" - and in Portuguese became "Macau";
- the Chinese name Aomen means "inlet gates"
Government type
executive-led limited democracy; a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China
National holiday
- National Day (anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949);
- note - 20 December (1999) is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day
Constitution
- history:
- previous 1976 (Organic Statute of Macau, under Portuguese authority);
- latest adopted 31 March 1993, effective 20 December 1999 (Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China serves as Macau's constitution)
- amendments:
- proposed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the People’s Republic of China State Council, and the Macau Special Administrative Region;
- submittal of proposals to the NPC requires two-thirds majority vote by the Legislative Assembly of Macau, approval by two thirds of Macau's deputies to the NPC, and consent of the Macau chief executive;
- final passage requires approval by the NPC;
- amended 2005, 2012
Suffrage
- 18 years of age in direct elections for some legislative positions, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past 7 years;
- note - indirect elections are limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" and an election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, central government bodies, and elected Macau officials
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President of China XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013)
- head of government:
- Chief Executive HO lat Seng (since 20 December 2019)
- cabinet:
- Executive Council appointed by the chief executive
- elections/appointments:
- president indirectly elected by National People's Congress for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
- election last held on 10 March 2023 (next to be held in March 2028);
- chief executive chosen by a 400-member Election Committee for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
- election last held on 13 October 2024 (next to be held in 2029)
- election results:
- 2024: Sam Hou FAI (unopposed; received 394 out of 400 votes); 2019: HO lat Seng (unopposed; received 392 out of 400 votes)
Legislative branch
- description:
- unicameral Legislative Assembly or Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (33 seats; 14 members directly elected by proportional representation vote, 12 indirectly elected by an electoral college of professional and commercial interest groups, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members serve 4-year terms)
- elections:
- last held on 12 September 2021 (next to be held in September 2025)
- election results:
- percent of vote - ACUM 20.1%, UPD 18%, NE 13.8%, UMG 12.7%, UPP 11.4%, ABL 10.8%, PS 6.6%, other 6.6%;
- seats by political group - ACUM 3, UPD 2, UGM 2, UPP 2, ABL 2, NE 2, PS 1;
- composition - men NA, women NA, percentage women NA%
Judicial branch
- highest court(s):
- Court of Final Appeal of Macau Special Administrative Region (consists of the court president and 2 associate justices)
- judge selection and term of office:
- justices appointed by the Macau chief executive upon the recommendation of an independent commission of judges, lawyers, and "eminent" persons; judge tenure NA
- subordinate courts:
- Court of Second Instance;
- Court of First instance;
- Lower Court;
- Administrative Court
Political parties
- Alliance for a Happy Home or ABL
- Association of Synergy of Macau ("Synergy Power" or Poder da Singeria) or PS
- Macau-Guangdong Union or UGM
- New Hope or NE
- Union for Development or UPD
- Union for Promoting Progress or UPP or UNIPRO
- United Citizens Association of Macau or ACUM
note: there is no political party ordinance, so there are no registered political parties; politically active groups register as societies or companies
International organization participation
ICC (national committees), IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), ISO (correspondent), UNESCO (associate), UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation from the US
embassy: the US has no offices in Macau; US Consulate General in Hong Kong is accredited to Macau
Flag description
- green with a lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars: one large in the center of the arc and two smaller on either side;
- the lotus is the floral emblem of Macau, the three petals represent the peninsula and two islands that make up Macau;
- the five stars echo those on the flag of China
National anthem
note: as a Special Administrative Region of China, "Yiyongjun Jinxingqu" is the official anthem (see China)
Economy
28 fieldsGDP - composition, by sector of origin(2022 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
By end use% of GDP · (2023 est.)
Budget(2022 est.)
Economic overview
- high-income, Chinese special administrative region economy;
- known for apparel exports and gambling tourism;
- currency pegged to Hong Kong dollar;
- significant recession due to 2015 Chinese anticorruption campaign;
- COVID-19 further halved economic activity
Credit ratings
- Fitch rating:
- AA (2018)
- Moody's rating:
- Aa3 (2016)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
Agricultural products
pork, chicken, beef, eggs, pork offal, pork fat, pepper, beef offal, cattle hides, goose meat (2022) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
Labor force
407,000 (2023 est.) note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
Unemployment rate
2.25% (2023 est.) · 2.48% (2022 est.) · 2.25% (2021 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
- total:
- 7% (2023 est.)
- male:
- 9% (2023 est.)
- female:
- 5.3% (2023 est.)
note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment
Remittances
0.19% of GDP (2023 est.) · 0.34% of GDP (2022 est.) · 0.24% of GDP (2021 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
Taxes and other revenues
17.07% (of GDP) (2022 est.) note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP
Current account balance
$2.782 billion (2022 est.) · $2.683 billion (2021 est.) · $3.635 billion (2020 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Exports
$20.985 billion (2022 est.) · $28.163 billion (2021 est.) · $15.578 billion (2020 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Exports - commodities
jewelry, garments, broadcasting equipment, precious metal watches, trunks and cases (2022) note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
Imports
$21.795 billion (2022 est.) · $23.769 billion (2021 est.) · $15.214 billion (2020 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Imports - commodities
jewelry, garments, electricity, broadcasting equipment, trunks and cases (2022) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$27.771 billion (2023 est.) · $25.971 billion (2022 est.) · $26.665 billion (2021 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Exchange rates
patacas (MOP) per US dollar - 8.063 (2023 est.) · 8.065 (2022 est.) · 8.006 (2021 est.) · 7.989 (2020 est.) · 8.07 (2019 est.)
Energy
8 fieldsElectrification% of population · (2022 est.)
Installed generating capacity, 437,000 kW(2022 est.)
Natural gas
- consumption:
- 120.337 million cubic meters (2022 est.)
- imports:
- 117.085 million cubic meters (2022 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions
1.746 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)
- from petroleum and other liquids:
- 1.511 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)
- from consumed natural gas:
- 236,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)
Communications
7 fieldsPer 100 inhabitants(2020–22 est.)
Telecommunication systems
- general assessment:
- Macau’s economy and GDP have been on a roller coaster ride since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020;
- the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China is heavily dependent on tourists coming from the mainland and Hong Kong to play in Macau’s many casinos, but the ensuing lock downs contributed to a dramatic fall in visitor numbers as well as income;
- this too, has had a major effect on the telecom sector (particularly in the mobile segment) with short-stay visitors as well as foreign workers on temporary-stay visas being forced to stay away.;
- total mobile subscription numbers are estimated to have dropped from a high of 2.8 million in 2019 (representing a whopping 442% penetration rate in a region with a population of just 700,000) to less than half that by the end of 2021: 1.3 million subscribers;
- Macau had almost the highest mobile penetration rate in the world;
- it is now sitting at a more ‘reasonable’ level of 200%;
- a significant bounce back can be expected to follow the easing of travel restrictions, although perhaps not up to the same lofty heights achieved in 2019;
- asecond factor behind the steep fall in 2020 was the introduction of a Cyber Security Law that required all prepaid SIM cards to become registered or face being deactivated in October 2020;
- the combined effect of the pandemic and the new restrictions meant that prepaid subscriber numbers fell by more than 80%;
- postpaid accounts, largely the domain of Macau’s permanent residents, were barely affected by the external upheaval;
- they continued to increase in number, year-on-year, and provided better returns to the operators thanks to substantially increased data usage during the lock downs;
- the mobile broadband market has experienced the same dramatic fluctuations as the broader mobile segment over the last two years, at least in terms of subscriber numbers;
- but this is largely because mobile broadband uptake is inextricably tied to the base mobile offering in Macau;
- with total mobile broadband data traffic going up, not down, between 2019 and 2021, that again points to the strength of the contract segment helping to drive future growth in Macau’s telecom sector (2022)
- domestic:
- fixed-line nearly 16 per 100 and mobile-cellular roughly 410 per 100 persons (2021)
- international:
- country code - 853;
- landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe;
- HF radiotelephone communication facility;
- satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2019)
Broadcast media
- local government dominates broadcast media;
- 2 television stations operated by the government with one broadcasting in Portuguese and the other in Cantonese and Mandarin;
- 1 cable TV and 4 satellite TV services available;
- 3 radio stations broadcasting, of which 2 are government-operated (2019)
Transportation
7 fieldsNational air transport system
- number of registered air carriers:
- 1 (2020) (registered in China); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 21 (registered in China)
- annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:
- 3,157,724 (2018)
- annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:
- 31.84 million (2018) mt-km
Ports
- total ports:
- 1 (2024)
- large:
- 0
- medium:
- 1
- small:
- 0
- very small:
- 0
- ports with oil terminals:
- 1
- key ports:
- Macau
Military and Security
No regular indigenous military forces; Macau Public Security Police Force (includes the Police Intervention Tactical Unit or UTIP for counterterrorism operations)
2 fieldsMilitary and security forces
no regular indigenous military forces; Macau Public Security Police Force (includes the Police Intervention Tactical Unit or UTIP for counterterrorism operations)
Military - note
defense is the responsibility of China; the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) maintains a garrison in Macau
Transnational Issues
2 fieldsTrafficking in persons
- tier rating:
- Tier 3 — Macau does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore, Macau remained on Tier 3;
- for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/macau/
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Macau.” The World Factbook 2024. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/macau/2024.