The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) releases today the preliminary balance of payments (BOP) statistics of Macao SAR for the reference year 2020. The BOP, which comprises the current account, the capital account and the financial account, is a statistical statement that summarises the external transactions of an economy with the rest of the world.   

In 2020, the overall BOP of Macao SAR preliminarily recorded a surplus of MOP21.3 billion. Of which, the current account surplus amounted to MOP23.7 billion and financial non-reserve assets showed a net increase of MOP31.9 billion.

Exports of goods increased by 129.3% year-on-year while imports of goods (f.o.b.) rose marginally by 0.1%. As a result, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed from MOP84.0 billion in 2019 to MOP64.6 billion in 2020. Concurrently, service exports fell by 75.3%, mainly attributable to falling exports of travel services as affected by the pandemic, while service imports also dropped by 36.3%. Therefore, the services account surplus fell from MOP310.0 billion in 2019 to MOP60.4 billion in 2020.

The primary income account, which reflects cross-border flows of factor income, recorded a net inflow of MOP40.1 billion in 2020; of which, inflows and outflows went down from MOP69.5 billion and MOP120.7 billion in 2019 to MOP55.5 billion and MOP15.4 billion in 2020 respectively. The secondary income account, which comprises current transfers between Macao residents and non-residents, recorded a net outflow of MOP12.2 billion in 2020, marking a decrease of MOP11.1 billion from the net outflow in 2019.

As the invisible trade surplus and the net inflow of primary income offset the merchandise trade deficit and the net outflow of secondary income, the current account recorded a surplus of MOP23.7 billion in 2020, down by MOP127.8 billion from MOP151.5 billion in 2019. 

Financial non-reserve assets registered a net outflow of MOP31.9 billion in 2020, representing a decrease of MOP46.9 billion compared to the net outflow in 2019. Of which, direct investment recorded a net outflow of MOP63.6 billion in 2020, contrary to a net inflow of MOP44.3 billion in 2019, mainly resulting from the notable drop in direct investment liabilities. Due to the significant deceleration in the growth of external securities investment of Macao residents (excluding Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves) during the year, the net outflow of portfolio investment dropped from MOP126.1 billion in 2019 to MOP48.4 billion in 2020. On the other hand, other investment recorded a net inflow of MOP77.3 billion in 2020 as against a net outflow of MOP1.7 billion in 2019, owing to the faster growth of Macao residents’ other external liabilities than other external assets. Meanwhile, financial derivatives continued to register a net inflow in 2020, totalling MOP2.8 billion.  

Reserve assets in the financial account record the net change in Macao’s foreign exchange reserves held by the AMCM. Reserve assets, after price, exchange rate and other adjustments, rose by MOP21.3 billion in 2020 as compared to an increase of MOP12.1 billion in 2019, reflecting that the overall BOP stayed in surplus.    

Macao’s BOP statistics are compiled in accordance with the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (Sixth Edition) of the International Monetary Fund.  The current release incorporates preliminary estimates of key statistics, and a detailed report with revised data will be published in December 2021.