Gaming revenues in Macau surged more than 42 per cent in 2011, the latest official figures show.

Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau confirmed that the enclave’s casinos recorded a 25 per cent year-on-year increase in gross gaming revenues in December to 23.6bn patacas ($3bn).

This brought the combined total revenues for 2011 to 188.34bn patacas – a 42.2 per cent increase on the previous year.

This growth is expected to slow, however, with credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s estimating that next year the enclave’s casinos will experience a 15 per cent increase in revenue.

Singapore is also believed to be on course to become the second largest single gaming market in the world within the next few years.