The gambling island of Macau, just of the coast of China, has overtaken rivals such as Japan, Singapore, and oil-rich Brunei to take the top Asian spot after their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) surged 26 percent to USD $36,357 last year, according to Macau statistics and census service.
So in current US dollar terms, Macau now ranks 20th on the list of the world's richest economies, putting it ahead of Italy and just behind Germany and France, according to these figures and estimated 2007 per capita GDP data published by the International Monetary Fund in October last year.
Casino revenues rising 47 per cent last year fuelled a real GDP growth of 27.3 per cent last year, Macau's second fastest expansion in 15 years.
The 538,000 strong resident population of Macau is also experiencing definite improvements in employment, as the island's 29 casinos continue to pull in business and expand, reports Xinhua.
Results of a survey showed that there were 44,743 paid employees engaged in Macao's gaming industry at the end of last (2007) year, which is an increase of 22.9 percent year-on-year.
Gaming revenues in 2007 amounted to over 83 billion patacas (around US$ 10.3 billion).
BUT NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY WITH THIS NEWS
But not all Macau residents are cheering, because casino wealth has been concentrated only in the hands of the city's richest few and overseas investors.
Growth in median incomes has lagged far behind the huge increases in per capita GDP.
Making matters worse is inflation, which is running at a 12-year high and is now bordering on double digits following a 9.47 per cent increase in last month's composite consumer price index.
The prices of staples are soaring, as in Hong Kong and on the mainland, but inflation in Macau is also broadening beyond food to include housing and health care according to reports in the South Chinese Morning Post. Rents rose 15.6 per cent last month from a year earlier, while the cost of medical consultations increased 24.2 per cent.
Earlier this month the Macau government announced a package of one-off subsidies designed to temper inflation. While providing welcome relief, analysts expressed concern that the temporary measures would do little to prevent inflation from accelerating in the face of Macau's GDP growth.
