The DSEC said that thanks to the city's continued flourishing gaming and tourism sector and the solid employment market, the business performance of local wholesale and retail sector showed "satisfactory growth".

According to the DSEC figures, a total of 11,803 wholesale and retail outlets, including establishments, market stalls and fixed stalls on the street, were operating last year, decreasing by 284 compared with 2006. At the end of 2007, number of persons engaged in the sector went up by four percent to 36,191.

The sector's gross fixed capital formation increased by 28 percent to 792 million patacas (99 million dollars), and the grossvalue added, a measure of the sectoral contribution to the economy, rose by 25 percent to 4.88 billion patacas (US$610 million).

Meanwhile, total expenditure of the sector amounted to 31.16 billion patacas (US$3.9 billion) in 2007, which increased by 14 percent over 2006.

In 2007, number of operating wholesale and retail establishments totaled 9,844, dropping by 168 compared with 2006, with 738 engaging in the sale of motor vehicles and automobile fuel, 4,364 in wholesale trade and 4,742 in retail trade. Number of persons engaged totaled 32,755, up by six percent over the previous year, according to the DSEC.

As for the number of operating market and fixed street stalls, it also decreased by 116 year-on-year to 1,959 in 2007, comprising799 market stalls and 1,160 fixed stalls on the street. Number of persons engaged went down by 8 percent over 2006 to 3,436.