MACAO, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Macao's gaming industry revenue in 2018 increased by 14 percent year-on-year to 302.85 billion patacas (about 37.58 billion U.S. dollars), the special administrative region's gaming industry watchdog said here on Wednesday.

Macao's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said in its latest report that the sector's revenue increased by 16.6 percent year-on-year to 26.47 billion patacas (about 3.28 billion U.S. dollars) in December 2018.

The strong increase in December has kept the momentum since the recovery of growth rate in November 2018, when the total revenue of the industry increased 8.5 percent. In September and October 2018, the year-on-year growth rate only reached 2.8 percent and 2.6 percent respectively.

Macao's monthly gaming revenue registered a 1.1 percent year-on-year rise in August 2016, ending a 26-month slump of the industry. Since then the monthly revenue has kept a year-on-year growth as of December 2018, which recorded the 29th monthly rebound.