Macao Statistics and Census Bureau: 52.3% of surveyed businesses are pessimistic about Macao's export prospects in the next six months.

The results of the "Industrial Export Situation Survey" for the first quarter, published by the Statistics and Census Service of Macau, show that the surveyed manufacturers are becoming more cautious about the export prospects of Macau in the next six months. The main export goods in the first quarter of this year include medicines, electronic products/appliances, tobacco and alcohol, clothing, and other food products. The markets that relatively performed well in terms of export prospects are Asia and The Pacific region (excluding data from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan). In terms of orders, the average number of months of orders on hand for surveyed manufacturers in the first quarter of 2025 was 3.0 months, a decrease of 0.4 months from the fourth quarter of 2024. The "Clothing Manufacturing" sector had the highest number of orders on hand with 4.9 months, followed by "Medicines" and "Electronics/Appliances" with 4.4 months and 3.4 months, respectively, while "Other non-textile products" had 1.0 month. In terms of export markets, according to the "Market Quarterly Order Situation Composite Index," the markets where Macau's export prospects relatively performed well were Asia and The Pacific region (excluding data from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan), with a change in index of 25.6%; while the data for the United States relatively underperformed with a change in index of -43.3%. Regarding the export outlook for the next six months, 26.9% of surveyed manufacturers are optimistic about the export prospects, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from the previous quarter, while 52.3% are pessimistic, an increase of 29.2 percentage points from the previous quarter; and 20.8% expect no significant change in export prospects, a decrease of 33.1 percentage points from the previous quarter. Among the issues affecting export activities, 68.2% of surveyed manufacturers stated that "insufficient orders" were the main problem, followed by 38.2% citing "rising raw material prices" and 36.4% mentioning "intense price competition in foreign markets." In terms of outlook for the next three months, 43.2% and 15.8% of manufacturers respectively stated that "insufficient orders" and "intense price competition in foreign markets" were the main problems.