Gaming revenue in Macao fell 34.5 percent in July from the previous year, hovering around five-year lows as wealthy Chinese punters stayed away from the world's biggest gambling hub, according to officials in the city.
The decline, however, was narrower than the 36 percent drop in June and in line with analysts' estimates for a fall of about 34 to 35 percent.
Gambling revenue fell year-on-year to 18.6 billion patacas ($2.3 billion), according to data released by the Macao authorities on Monday. In June, revenue fell to 17.4 billion patacas.
Macao is the only legal casino hub in China, and the Chinese mainland accounts for nearly 70 percent of all visitors to the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), but gambling revenues have fallen for the past 14 months amid a broader government crackdown on corruption.
Top customers, who once accounted for the bulk of gaming revenues, have stayed away from Macao to avoid scrutiny, according to travel agents who organize these visitors' trips. Despite this drop, the SAR still rakes in more than five times more than rival Las Vegas.
Government figures showed the share of revenue from the top gamblers fell to 55 percent in the second quarter from about 70 percent before early 2014.
