Macau casino revenue in 2011 surged to $33.5B

HONG KONG—Macau casino gambling revenue surged by nearly half last year as the world’s biggest gambling market continued to boom.

According to data posted on the gaming department’s website Tuesday, gross revenue from Macau’s 34 casinos in 2011 totaled 267.87 billion patacas ($33.5 billion). That’s 42 percent higher than the 188.34 billion patacas ($23.5 billion) in 2010.

Macau’s economic growth has rocketed since the government broke up a four-decade monopoly in 2002 and allowed foreign operators in.

The former Portuguese colony, now a special administrative region of China, overtook the Las Vegas Strip in 2006 as the world’s most lucrative gambling market. Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.