MACAO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The economy of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) grew 4.7 percent in 2018 as its gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to 440.3 billion patacas (54.6 billion U.S. dollars), but the pace of growth slowed notably, the statistic service said on Thursday.

The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service said Macao's GDP per capita was 666,893 patacas (82,609 U.S. dollars). The implicit price deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, rose 3.6 percent in 2018.

The economic growth rate for the first quarter of 2018 was revised down to 9.3 percent, whereas that for the second and third quarters were revised upward to 6.0 percent and 1.9 percent respectively. The Macao SAR's GDP expanded by 2.1 percent year-on-year in real terms in the fourth quarter.

Exports of services and private consumption expenditure were the main drivers of economic growth in 2018. Domestic demand weakened, falling 1.7 percent year-on-year, while gross fixed capital formation declined 12.5 percent owing to a significant decrease in private construction investment.

On the other hand, increases in total employment, employment earnings and government expenditure boosted private consumption expenditure, government final consumption expenditure and imports of goods by 4.5 percent, 3.8 percent and 4.7 percent respectively, which offset the impact of declined investment.

The report added that the external demand showed modest growth, as exports of services underpinned by increased visitor arrivals and spending went up 9.4 percent year-on-year, with exports of gaming services and other tourism services rising 10.3 percent and 9.4 percent respectively.

Exports of goods also saw an increase of 11.0 percent.

The proportions of private consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure fell marginally by 0.3 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points respectively.