The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of Survey on Participation of Residents in Cultural Activities for the second quarter of 2017. This Survey aims to collect information on participation of individuals aged 16 and above in cultural activities in the six months prior to the date of interview. Cultural activities include going to the cinema, going to a library, visiting a museum or World Heritage site, and attending a performance or art exhibition.

In the second quarter of 2017, a total of 295,800 individuals participated in cultural activities; the cultural activity participation rate (percentage of individuals participating in cultural activities in the population aged 16 and above) was 54.0%, down by 0.9 percentage points year-on-year. Local residents participating in cultural activities totalled 261,100, with a participation rate of 59.0%, down slightly by 0.2 percentage points.

Analysed by type of cultural activity, going to the cinema remained the most popular activity for local residents, with 173,400 participants, up by 2.1% year-on-year; the activity participation rate edged up by 0.2 percentage points to 39.2%. With the government organising a number of film screenings to promote Macao film culture, local residents who had watched locally produced films and videos continued to rise, growing by 3.1% year-on-year to 36,200.

Local residents going to libraries increased by 13.2% year-on-year to 129,500; the activity participation rate was 29.3%, up by 3.0 percentage points. Students had a higher participation rate than non-students, at 79.4% and 24.4% respectively.

Local residents visiting museums or World Heritage sites rose by 1.4% year-on-year to 115,400. The average visit per participant went up by 0.5 to 3.3. Among these local residents, 87,900 visited Word Heritage sites and 77,600 visited museums, up by 6.6% and 3.4% respectively year-on-year.

There were 79,500 local residents attending performances, down by 12.2% year-on-year. The average attendance per participant rose by 0.3 to 2.6. Music/dance performances were more popular among local residents, with 57,500 participants (72.4% of total), while theatre performances had 49,600 participants (62.4%).

There were 34,900 local residents attending art exhibitions, down by 8.9% year-on-year; 99.6% of them also participated in other types of cultural activities, and the proportion of those who took part in four or more types of activities rose by 12.0 percentage points to 63.6%.