I. Data in this chapter show main social and economic developments of the Macao Special Administrative Region, including
data on land, population, employment, national accounts, industry, energy, construction, transportation, communication,
external trade, public finance and banking, prices , education, health, housing and social security.

II. Data of 1999 and previous years in this chapter refer to data of the former Macao region.

III. All data in this chapter are provided by the Statistics and Census Services, the Government of the Macao Special
Administrative Region, and further tabulated or edited by the International Statistical Information Centre of the National
Bureau of Statis tics.

IV. According to the Bas ic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, Macao Special
Administrative Region maintains its independent statistical sys tem, and compiles and diss eminates s tatis tics on the
Region. As Macao and the mainland of China use different statistical concepts , definitions and terminology, users are
advised to make reference of the Explanatory Note at the end of this chapter when us ing and comparing data of the
mainland of China and the Macao Special Administrative Region.

V. As Macao is a separate custom territory, trade between Macao and the mainland of China needs customs declaration
procedures. In terms of trade statistics , data on Macao's imports and exports include Macao's trade with the mainland of
China.

VI. As Pataca (MOP) is the legal tender in the Macao Special Administrative Region, all other currencies (including Renminbi)
are regarded as foreign currencies in compiling foreign exchange statistics and related statistics.

VII. For more detailed statistics and technical details, users are advised to read Macao Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, Macao
Yearbook of Statistics and other publications compiled by the Statis tics and Census Services , the Government of the Macao
Special Administrative Region.

VIII. Notations used in this chapter: "_" Indicates absolute value equals zero; "(blank)" indicates no figure provided or not
available; "p" indicates provisional data; " o" indicates less than half of the unit employed; "r" indicates rectified data; "*" or
" "indicates s ee footnotes below.