The number of gambling-related crimes in Macau has surged by 63% year-on-year, largely driven by the criminalisation of illegal money exchange for the purpose of gambling.
Macau’s Office of the Secretary for Security revealed a record number of gambling-related crimes in 2025, reporting an increase from 1,456 in 2024 to 2,373 last year.
This is in spite of legislative changes in October 2024, which saw the government revise its Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes.
In Macau, currency exchange is only legal through entities authorised by the Macau Monetary Authority.
However, in recent years, there has been a significant demand for monetary exchange outside of this system, particularly from Chinese Yuan to the Hong Kong Dollar, in order to facilitate gambling in Macau’s casinos and bypass cross-border capital flow restrictions.
Authorities in Macau noted that cases related to this law surged from 89 in 2024 to 471 last year – an increase of over 400%. Instances of fraud, which are often interlinked with illegal currency exchange, also doubled from 333 to 667 in 2025.
As an illustration of the extent of these crimes, in September, enforcement action led to the arrests of 252 people and the identification of 19 suspected criminal syndicates linked to illicit currency exchange.
In a bid to centralise control and gain greater visibility on currency exchange activity, Macau’s government has also moved to take a more lenient stance on casinos offering currency exchanges.
In February, authorities confirmed that Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts & Entertainment and SJM Holdings are able to offer these services as a result of the reauthorisation of their licenses.
Despite these concerning statistics, the direction of travel is more positive for serious and organised gaming-related crimes. Cases involving criminal syndicates and illegal gambling fell by 50%. Meanwhile, cases of false imprisonment and loan sharking for gambling also fell by 40% and 23%, respectively.
