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Macau

Asia

To which language should you translate to localize in Macau?

What we know from our community

Macau’s linguistic heritage is closely interlinked with the city’s history as a former Portuguese colony. It has two official languages: Chinese and Portuguese. Macau Chinese, which utilizes standard written Chinese for formal written communication and Cantonese for spoken communication, is the language that closely connects with the Macanese. Cantonese is the most widely spoken language used in everyday life, while Portuguese having a significant presence in legal, governmental, and cultural contexts. With the influx of gaming finance into the city, English has also come to a role of increasing prominence especially in casino resorts and main tourist areas. There are also substantial number of Filipinos working in the city who speak Tagalog as their primary language. 

In terms of writing system in Chinese, Cantonese Chinese in Macau uses traditional characters, similarly to Hong Kong, while Mandarin Chinese in Mainland China uses simplified characters. The Cantonese spoken in Macau also has a distinct accent and vocabulary compared to other Cantonese-speaking regions. It is also interesting to note that the language has a large number of loanwords from Portuguese, such as 馬介休 (‘bacalhau’), 葡萄牙 (‘Portugal’), and 前地 (‘largo’).

Traditional Chinese (Cantonese)

澳門的語言局面與其作為葡萄牙前殖民地的歷史密不可分。澳門有兩種官方語言:中文和葡文。
在正式書面交流中,澳門人會使用標準書寫中文;而在口語交流中,則使用廣東話。廣東話是澳
門日常生活中最廣泛使用的語言,而葡文在法律、政府和文化背景下佔有重要地位。隨著賭博娛
樂和金融業的湧入,英語在賭場、度假村酒店和主要旅遊區扮演着重要的角色。除此之外,亦有
大量的菲律賓人在澳門工作,他們會以他加祿語為主要語言。
在中文的書寫系統方面,澳門的廣東話使用繁體字,與香港一樣,而在中國大陸的普通話則使用
簡體字。澳門的廣東話口音和詞彙與其他廣東話使用地區也有所不同。有趣的是,澳門的廣東話
有許多來自葡萄牙語的借詞,例如「馬介休」(bacalhau)、「葡萄牙」(Portugal)和「前地」
(largo)。

Piyen Ho, Translator

LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Official language

Chinese (92%), Portuguese (2%)

Actual languages

Chinese (92.0%), English (2.3%), Portuguese (2%), Tagalog (1.7%), other (2.0%)

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Macau

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

  • 18/150 localize by translating into Traditional Chinese
  • 3/150 localize by translating into both Traditional Chinese and Portuguese
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both Simplified Chinese and Portuguese
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Simplified Chinese
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Traditional Chinese, Portuguese and Tagalog
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Traditional Chinese, Semplified Chinese, Portuguese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Korean
  • Localization not available 3M
  • Localization not available ABB
  • Localization not available Accenture
  • Localization not available Adidas
  • Localization not available Adobe
  • Localization available Airbnb
  • Localization not available Aldi
  • Localization not available Amazon
  • Localization not available American Airlines
  • Localization available American Express
  • Localization available Apple
  • Localization not available Audi
  • Localization not available Autodesk
  • Localization not available Avis
  • Localization not available Bayer
  • Localization not available BMW
  • Localization not available Booking.com
  • Localization available Bosch
  • Localization available British Airways
  • Localization not available Bumble
  • Localization available Burberry
  • Localization not available BYD
  • Localization not available Canon
  • Localization not available Capgemini
  • Localization not available Cartier
  • Localization not available Caterpillar
  • Localization not available Chevrolet
  • Localization not available Cisco Systems
  • Localization not available Citibank
  • Localization not available Coca-Cola
  • Localization not available Costco
  • Localization not available Dell
  • Localization available Deloitte
  • Localization not available Delta
  • Localization available DHL
  • Localization not available Disney+
  • Localization not available Dyson
  • Localization not available eBay
  • Localization not available Eli Lilly
  • Localization not available Emirates
  • Localization available Ernst & Young
  • Localization available Facebook
  • Localization not available FedEx
  • Localization not available Ford
  • Localization available Four Seasons
  • Localization not available Fujifilm
  • Localization not available GE
  • Localization not available Gillette
  • Localization not available GoDaddy
  • Localization available Google
  • Localization not available Gucci
  • Localization not available Haier
  • Localization not available Heineken
  • Localization not available Hermès
  • Localization not available Hertz
  • Localization not available Hilton
  • Localization not available Hisense
  • Localization not available Hitachi
  • Localization not available Honda
  • Localization not available Hotels.com
  • Localization not available HP
  • Localization not available HP Enterprise
  • Localization not available HSBC
  • Localization not available Huawei
  • Localization not available Hyatt
  • Localization not available Hyundai
  • Localization not available IBM
  • Localization not available IKEA
  • Localization not available Intel
  • Localization available InterContinental Hotels
  • Localization not available J&J
  • Localization not available Jack Daniel's
  • Localization available Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • Localization not available John Deere
  • Localization not available Kellogg's
  • Localization available Kia
  • Localization not available KPMG
  • Localization not available LOréal
  • Localization not available Land Rover
  • Localization not available LEGO
  • Localization not available Lenovo
  • Localization not available Lexus
  • Localization not available LG
  • Localization not available Louis Vuitton
  • Localization available Lululemon
  • Localization not available LUSH
  • Localization not available Marriott
  • Localization not available MasterCard
  • Localization not available McDonald's
  • Localization not available Mercedes-Benz
  • Localization not available Merck
  • Localization not available Microsoft
  • Localization not available Mitsubishi Electric
  • Localization not available Nestlé
  • Localization available Netflix
  • Localization not available Nike
  • Localization not available Nikon
  • Localization not available Nintendo
  • Localization not available Nio
  • Localization not available Nissan
  • Localization not available NIVEA
  • Localization not available Oracle
  • Localization not available Pampers
  • Localization not available Panasonic
  • Localization not available PayPal
  • Localization not available Pepsi
  • Localization not available Pfizer
  • Localization not available Philips
  • Localization not available Pitney Bowes
  • Localization not available Porsche
  • Localization not available Procter & Gamble
  • Localization not available PWC
  • Localization not available Revolut
  • Localization not available Rolex
  • Localization not available Royal Caribbean
  • Localization not available Salesforce
  • Localization not available Samsung
  • Localization not available Sanofi
  • Localization not available SAP
  • Localization not available Sephora
  • Localization not available Shopify
  • Localization not available Siemens
  • Localization not available Sony
  • Localization not available Spotify
  • Localization not available Starbucks
  • Localization not available Steelcase
  • Localization not available Stripe
  • Localization available Subaru
  • Localization available Tesla
  • Localization available The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Localization available Tiffany
  • Localization not available Tinder
  • Localization not available Toshiba
  • Localization available Toyota
  • Localization not available TripAdvisor
  • Localization not available Uber
  • Localization not available United Airlines
  • Localization available UPS
  • Localization not available Visa
  • Localization not available Volkswagen
  • Localization not available Volvo Cars
  • Localization not available Vrbo
  • Localization not available Walmart
  • Localization not available Western Union
  • Localization available Wikipedia
  • Localization not available Wise
  • Localization not available WordPress
  • Localization not available Workday
  • Localization not available Xerox
  • Localization not available Xiaomi (Mi)
  • Localization available Zara
  • Localization not available Zoom
Available in

If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data

Index of content

Introduction

Language

Official language
Chinese (92%), Portuguese (2%)

Other languages
English (2.3%), Tagalog (1.7%), other (2.0%).

T-index
0.026%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Demography

Capital: Macau
Currency: Macanese Pataca
Population: 658,391 thousands
Population density: 19,737/km2

Economy

GDP: 29.91 billion USD (2021)
GDP per capita: 45,421.6 USD ‎(2021) ‎
Exports: 1.35 billion USD (2020)

Statistics

Internet users: 86.5% penetration, 573.4 thousand
Unemployment rate: 2.6% (May 2020)
Literacy: 96.5% (2017)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numbering system with comma as decimal separator.

Date format: yyyy-mm-dd
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00853

Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal

Facts and data

Economy

Imports
$6.41 billion (2020). Electricity ($414M), Jewelry ($341M), Cars ($313M), Trunks and Cases ($267M), and Beauty Products ($185M), importing mostly from China ($2.27B), Hong Kong ($1.61B), Italy ($286M), United States ($275M), and Japan ($266M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 80% have an account with a financial institution
• 3% have a credit card
• 2% have a mobile money account
• 4.3% make online purchases

Exports
$ 1.35 billion (2020).  Jewelry ($174M), Broadcasting Equipment ($150M), Precious Metal Watches ($106M), Telephones ($85.9M), and Trunks and Cases ($67.8M), exporting mostly to Hong Kong ($827M), China ($143M), United States ($93.2M), Australia ($54.2M), and Netherlands ($32.2M).

Main local online stores
Amazon, Flipkart.com, Snapdeal.com, PaytmMall.com, ebay.in, jabong.com, myntra.com, shopclues.com, pepperfry.com, homeshop18.com

Service Imports (2018)

Source: OEC

Service Exports (2018)

Source: OEC

Most complex products by PCI

Product Complexity Index measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters

Source: OEC

Most specialised products by RCA Index

Specialisation is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage, an index that takes the ratio between Macau observed and expected exports in each product

Source: OEC

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product, the barchart show only products that Macau is not specialized in

Source: OEC

T-index

T-index

Reach most of the online purchasing power

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.

Try it now

Media

Media main languages
Chinese and Portuguese, English

Information channels
The local government is the main media player in Macau; it runs terrestrial TV and radio stations and subsidises the press.

The law provides for freedom of expression and the media express a range of views. However, the local government “occasionally sought to restrict this right” the US Department of State said in its 2018 human rights assessment. It said that media sometimes self-censor.

A survey published in 2017 found that journalists working for Chinese-language media operate in “a tougher environment [with] more challenges, restraints and pressure” than their counterparts working in Portuguese and English.

There were 538,000 internet users by June 2019 (InternetWorldStats.com). Facebook is the most popular social network. The government did not restrict access or censor content, the US Department of State said in 2018.

The press

Macao Daily News – main daily, Chinese-language
Va Kio Daily – Chinese-language
Hoje Macau – Portuguese-language daily
Jornal Tribuna de Macau – Portuguese-language daily
Ponto Final – Portuguese-language daily
Macau Daily Times – English-language
MacauNews – online news in English, Chinese

Television

Teledifusao Macau – operates Chinese and Portuguese-language networks
Macau Asia Satellite TV (MASTV) – private

Radio

Radio Macau – operates Chinese and Portuguese-language networks
Radio Vila Verde – private

Media data source: BBC

Internet Data

Internet users
86.5% penetration, 573.4 thousand

Share of web traffic by device
40.7% mobile phones, 52.6% computers (laptops and desktops), 6.7% tablet devices, others 0.03%

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
41.07 Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
116.1o Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population 235.5%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 100%

Most popular web search engines
Google (94.63%), Yahoo (3.14%), Bing (1.06%), Baidu (0.91%), Sogou (0.07%), Shenma (0.06%)

Most used social media
Facebook (63.03%), Twitter(22%), Pinterest (7.8%),  YouTube (4.1%),  Instagram (2.45%), Linkedin (0.24%)

Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter

Social statistics

Life expectancy
84 yrs (2020)

Average age of the population
39.8 yrs (2020) 

Localization tips
Portugal’s longstanding influence over Macau shaped business relations into a mixture of Portuguese and Chinese customs. However, particularly outside the world of business, Macau’s cultural practices are strongly related to Chinese traditions. 

Healthcare expenditure
1.48% of GDP (2018)

Graduates (tertiary education)
Despite the lower share of adults with tertiary education, India has a relatively balanced gender distribution across the various fields of tertiary education compared to other OECD and partner countries, especially in fields such as education, humanities and arts, and health and welfare.

Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF

Number of students in Macao in 2019, by educational institution

Source: UNESCO

The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translate

Languages research

Languages spoken in Macau

The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com

Photo credit: Jimmy Woo, Unsplash

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