Explainer: Wealthy, tasty, shiny! Macao's success in facts and figures

MACAO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- There are few places where luxury hotels and Michelin-star restaurants are common sights, where roaring race cars and elite-level sports are nothing out of the ordinary, where Portuguese fado and Chinese opera meet, and where top-performing students and high-tech research achievements are frequent news items.

These rarities are the reality in Macao -- a rich, exciting and colorful special administrative region (SAR) in China. As the city gears up for the 25th anniversary of its return to China from Portuguese rule this week, this article compiles some impressive facts about Macao that you may not have known.

WORLD'S SECOND-RICHEST PLACE

This year, Forbes magazine listed Macao as the second-richest place in the world, trailing only Luxembourg. This was measured by per capita gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for purchasing power parity.

The financial magazine calculated Macao's real per capita GDP at 134,140 U.S. dollars, outranking other rich places in Asia such as Singapore, Qatar and Hong Kong.

FIVE-STAR HOTELS

The Forbes Travel Guide awarded 22 Macao hotels a five-star rating in both 2023 and 2024. This year is the second consecutive year that Macao has the most Forbes-approved top-tier accommodation providers in the world, beating its historic rival, London.

These opulent hotels are often parts of larger commercial complexes in Macao that encompass entertainment, shopping and dining, offering the finest one-stop travel experiences for visitors from around the world.

MICHELIN-STAR RESTAURANTS

A total of 16 restaurants in Macao hold Michelin stars in 2024. Two have won the coveted three-star designation, meaning "exceptional;" six have been awarded two stars, meaning "excellent;" and eight have one star for "high quality cooking." This makes Macao's density of Michelin-star restaurants among the world's highest.

Macao continues to be "a melting pot where culinary traditions from around the world converge, creating a unique and dynamic food culture for travelers and locals alike," said Chris Gledhill, a vice president of Michelin.

ELITE SPORTS

From car racing to table tennis, and from golf to volleyball, Macao presents top-level sporting events featuring some of the world's best athletes all year long. In the 2024 policy address, Macao SAR Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng set the regional goal of hosting at least two international sporting events each month.

The annual Macao Grand Prix -- already in its seventh decade -- has become a glittering calling card for Macao, igniting racing enthusiasm throughout the city. The World Table Tennis (WTT) games feature top-seed players, with legions of fans packing into grand stadiums to watch matches.

DIVERSE PERFORMANCES

A host of Broadway musicals, traditional Portuguese fado music, Hong Kong pop concerts and Peking operas mean lovers of culture and the arts can always find a musical event to suit their tastes in Macao. Cultural events have helped draw tourists from near and far, effectively boosting the local tourism industry.

Government data shows that nearly 20 million people attended various arts and culture events in Macao last year, and large-scale pop concerts drew up to 1 million people, generating gross ticket sales of approximately 140 million U.S. dollars.

OUTSTANDING STUDENT PERFORMANCE

The overall academic performance of students in Macao ranked second globally in 2022, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which was created by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures 15-year-olds' ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges, according to the OECD website.

In math, the main focus of PISA 2022, 15-year-old students in Macao scored 552 points, compared to an average of 472 points across all OECD countries. Macao's students averaged 543 points in science, compared to an overall average of 485 points in OECD countries. In reading, they scored an average of 510 points, compared to the OECD average of 476 points.

CUTTING-EDGE MICROELECTRONICS RESEARCH

Though known for its vibrant entertainment landscape, Macao is also a pioneer in cutting-edge high-tech research. Research on microelectronics at the University of Macau (UM) has continuously stood out at the annual International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The ISSCC is the most prestigious international conference in the field of electronics, involving a rigorous paper selection process.

This year's conference accepted 14 papers from UM, which ranked the university joint first in the number of publications. These achievements reflect UM's international recognition, as well as its leading position in the field.