The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) releases today the preliminary balance of payments (BOP) statistics of Macao SAR for the reference year 2021. The BOP, which comprises the current account, the capital account and the financial account, is a statistical statement that summarises external transactions of an economy with the rest of the world.   

In 2021, the overall BOP of Macao SAR preliminarily recorded a surplus of MOP10.9 billion. Of which, the current account registered a surplus of MOP23.7 billion and financial non-reserve assets showed a net decrease of MOP10.1 billion.

Exports of goods increased by 92.4% year-on-year while imports of goods (f.o.b.) rose by 58.1%. With imports having a higher base than exports, the merchandise trade deficit increased from MOP61.5 billion in 2020 to MOP85.6 billion in 2021. Concurrently, the rebound of travel exports drove up total service exports by 60.1% during the year while service imports merely rose by 20.6%. Therefore, the services account surplus expanded from MOP66.2 billion in 2020 to MOP116.3 billion in 2021.

The primary income account, which reflects cross-border flows of factor income, recorded a net inflow of MOP5.9 billion in 2021; of which, inflows went down from MOP55.1 billion in 2020 to MOP46.5 billion in 2021, whereas outflows rose from MOP17.0 billion in 2020 to MOP40.6 billion in 2021. The secondary income account, which comprises current transfers between Macao residents and non-residents, recorded a net outflow of MOP13.0 billion in 2021, marking an increase of MOP1.5 billion from the net outflow in 2020.

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 2021, down by MOP7.7 billion from MOP31.4 billion in 2020. 

Financial non-reserve assets registered a net inflow of MOP10.1 billion in 2021 as compared to a net outflow of MOP33.8 billion in 2020. Of which, direct investment continued to record a net outflow, with the amount decreasing to MOP30.6 billion in 2021 from MOP70.6 billion in 2020, mainly resulting from a narrower drop in direct investment liabilities. Meanwhile, as the growth of Macao’s securities liabilities against non-residents decelerated during the year, the net outflow of portfolio investment increased from MOP48.4 billion in 2020 to MOP49.9 billion in 2021. On the other hand, a net inflow remained in other investment, rising from MOP82.4 billion in 2020 to MOP88.6 billion in 2021, as Macao residents’ other external liabilities grew faster than other external assets. Meanwhile, financial derivatives continued to register a net inflow in 2021, totalling MOP2.1 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 MOP10.9 billion in 2021 as compared to an increase of MOP21.3 billion in 2020, reflecting that the overall BOP stayed in surplus.    

Macao’sBOP 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 2022.