Employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao
Macao: Employee compensation as share of government spending was 33.4% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao, 1996–2023
Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Government Finance Statistics, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
In 2023, employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao stood at 33.4%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 39.5% on the previous year and up 9.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao peaked at 56.8% in 1997 and was at its lowest, 24.0%, in 2022.
That places Macao 52nd out of 155 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 28 years of available data.
Employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 56.0% | — |
| 1997 | 56.8% | +1.3% |
| 1998 | 56.7% | -0.1% |
| 1999 | 46.5% | -18.1% |
| 2000 | 53.5% | +15.3% |
| 2001 | 53.7% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 52.6% | -2.0% |
| 2003 | 50.0% | -4.9% |
| 2004 | 49.7% | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 49.2% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 45.3% | -8.0% |
| 2007 | 45.5% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 34.0% | -25.2% |
| 2009 | 28.6% | -15.9% |
| 2010 | 27.5% | -3.7% |
| 2011 | 30.2% | +9.8% |
| 2012 | 31.7% | +5.0% |
| 2013 | 30.6% | -3.5% |
| 2014 | 29.9% | -2.3% |
| 2015 | 30.6% | +2.2% |
| 2016 | 30.8% | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 31.9% | +3.4% |
| 2018 | 31.8% | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 31.2% | -2.1% |
| 2020 | 26.6% | -14.6% |
| 2021 | 30.2% | +13.6% |
| 2022 | 24.0% | -20.7% |
| 2023 | 33.4% | +39.5% |
Macao compared with similar countries
- Macao's 33.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 18.9%, 1.8× the median. (56 countries reporting)
- Macao's 33.4% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 29.6%, 1.1× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | +39.5% | 24.0% | 33.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 54.0% | 46.5% | 56.8% | 4 |
| 2000s | 46.2% | 28.6% | 53.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 30.6% | 27.5% | 31.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 28.5% | 24.0% | 33.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Macao
- 49 Afghanistan 34.0% compare
- 50 Nauru 33.9% compare
- 51 Tonga 33.8% compare
- 53 Malawi 32.5% compare
- 54 United Arab Emirates 32.2% compare
- 55 Trinidad and Tobago 32.1% compare
More work & labour data for Macao
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 208.94 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 66.82 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 420.81 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 2.74 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.769 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 206,074 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 117,019 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 64.99 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 2.38 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate -0.2761 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao?
- Employee compensation as share of government spending in Macao was 33.4% in 2023, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Government Finance Statistics, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest employee compensation as share of government spending recorded in Macao?
- The highest recorded value was 56.8% in 1997.
- What is the lowest employee compensation as share of government spending recorded in Macao?
- The lowest recorded value was 24.0% in 2022.
- How does Macao rank for employee compensation as share of government spending?
- Macao ranks 52nd out of 155 countries with data for 2023.
- Is employee compensation as share of government spending rising or falling in Macao?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Macao data come from?
- The figures come from International Monetary Fund (IMF) Government Finance Statistics, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Employee compensation as share of government spending. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Employee compensation includes wages, in-kind payments, and government contributions to social insurance schemes such as social security and pensions.