MACAO - The total revenues of Macao's gaming sector for July this year amounted to 24.21 billion patacas ($3.02 billion), up 16 percent over the previous month, according to the figures released on Monday by the city's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

It was the second highest figure this year for Macao's monthly revenues for the gaming sector, following the all-time high monthly revenues of 24.3 billion patacas in May this year.

The figures indicated that the revenues for July 2011 increased by 48.4 percent over the same period of the previous year.

As for the first seven months of 2011, the figures increased by 45 percent year-on-year to 148.3 billion patacas, according to the Bureau.

Being the only place in China where gambling is legal, there were 34 casinos with 5,237 gaming tables and 15,098 slot machines in Macao by the end of June this year, according to official figures.