If you come to Macau from Hong Kong, by ferry or across the bridge, you clear customs at both ends, often on the same day. The one thing to leave at home is the vape in your pocket.
Macao Customs’ website is in Chinese and Portuguese only. English quotes below come from Macau International Airport, the Macao Government Tourism Office and the customs cash form. Portuguese quotes come from Customs and the Official Bulletin, and the translations are ours. The customs table covers every passenger and does not mention nationality, so the rules do not depend on your passport.
E-cigarettes: you cannot bring one in, or take one out
Macau amended its tobacco law in 2022. Article 15 now reads:
É proibido fabricar, distribuir, vender, importar e exportar, incluindo transportar consigo na entrada e saída da RAEM, cigarros electrónicos
In English: making, distributing, selling, importing and exporting e-cigarettes is prohibited, and that includes carrying one on you when you enter or leave Macau. Oral and inhaled tobacco products are covered too. The law was published on 5 September 2022 and took effect 90 days later.
The definition is wide. An e-cigarette is any product “ou qualquer componente desse produto, que pode ser utilizado para inalar vapor, com ou sem nicotina”, so a nicotine-free device counts, and so does a cartridge or a tank on its own.
The fine for an individual is fixed: “4 000 patacas, para quem viole o disposto no artigo 15.º”. Businesses and the tobacco industry face 20,000 to 200,000 patacas. Seized goods “podem ser declarados perdidos a favor da RAEM e pode ser ordenada a sua destruição”, which means forfeited and possibly destroyed.
The rule gets stricter on 1 January 2027. Law 10/2026 widens the ban to “cigarros à base de plantas, de narguilés, de produtos do tabaco para uso oral ou nasal, bem como de nicotina”: herbal cigarettes, hookahs, oral or nasal tobacco, and nicotine. Components and accessories are covered too. The fine for an individual carrying any of these across the border rises to “10 000 patacas”. From 1 July 2027, just having an e-cigarette in no-smoking places and shared outdoor areas also carries a MOP 1,500 fine.
Neither law names heated tobacco sticks, though the 2027 definition of an e-cigarette lists “os dispositivos de aquecimento” (heating devices) among its parts. The Health Bureau’s tobacco site would not load for us. If you use heated tobacco or nicotine pouches, ask the Health Bureau before you travel.
Tobacco: 19 cigarettes, and a cigar can weigh only 3 grams
The Customs table sets the personal-use tobacco allowance at “19 unidades de cigarros”, one cigar, or 25 grams of tobacco. A cigar has a weight limit: “o peso dos charutos não pode exceder, por unidade, 3 gramas” (a cigar may not weigh more than 3 grams). A note caps the three combined: “o peso total, no seu conjunto não pode exceder 25 gramas”. The Customs FAQ adds that this applies “diariamente, no seu conjunto, e por pessoa”: per day and per person.
The airport’s English page gives the same figures: “19 cigarettes or 1 cigars or 25 GR of tobacco or an assortment of these products not exceeding 25 GR.” None of the Macau pages we read sets a minimum age.
A pack of 20 is already one over. Anything beyond the allowance goes to the Red Channel (see below).
Alcohol: 1 litre above 30%, and nothing stated below it
The table allows “As bebidas de 1 litro com teor alcoólico que exceda 30% ( em volume)”. The airport words it as “1 litre of beverage of alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 30% vol.”
That covers spirits. Neither page sets a quantity for wine or beer at or below 30%, and we will not guess at one.
Cash: declare from MOP 120,000, arriving
The Tourism Office says travellers carrying cash or bearer instruments “with value of or exceeding MOP 120,000.00, should use the Red Channel with a completed declaration form”. Leaving Macau, you declare only if a customs officer asks. The customs form says the same: “equal to or exceeding MOP 120,000.00”. At exactly MOP 120,000, you declare.
One Customs page says “superior a” (more than), but the law page, the FAQ, the form and the Tourism Office all include the threshold itself.
For families and transit passengers:
- Everyone declares individually, children included. The FAQ says minors must declare “através dos respectivos representantes legais”, through a parent or guardian.
- Transit passengers are exempt if they stay only briefly and are “sem que efectuado qualquer registo de migração”, meaning they never pass immigration.
- Gold, precious stones and casino chips are outside the cash rule. The FAQ points to the separate foreign trade law for them.
Not declaring is “subject to a fine of 1% to 5% of the amount exceeding the designated amount, but never less than MOP 1,000.00 and not more than MOP 500,000.00.”
Red Channel or Green Channel
The Customs FAQ gives three reasons to use the Red Channel:
- You carry more than the personal-use quantity, “como por exemplo : cigarros e vinho”.
- You carry controlled goods.
- You carry goods for commercial use.
The declaration page adds goods worth more than “5 000,00 patacas (cinco mil patacas)”, subject to a Foreign Trade Law exception the page does not explain.
Walking through the Green Channel counts as a declaration. It states that you “não transportam fisicamente mercadorias sujeitas ao controlo” (carry no controlled goods), so officers need not ask. It does not exempt you from inspection. Undeclared goods can be seized and confiscated, and a fine can follow.
Medicines have limits in the same table. Narcotic and psychotropic drugs are capped at 30 days of treatment, and other medicines at 90 days.
Food bought in mainland China has its own rules. The FAQ says fresh meat, seafood and leafy vegetables have no personal allowance and need a licence and prior health inspection. Fresh fruit is limited to 1 kg.
Macau and Hong Kong, side by side
| Macau | Hong Kong | |
|---|---|---|
| Cigarettes | 19 | 19 |
| Cigars | 1, max 3 g | 1 cigar or 25 g of cigars |
| Spirits | 1 litre above 30% | 1 litre above 30% |
| Age condition | None stated | 18 or above |
| Cash declaration | MOP 120,000 or more | More than HKD 120,000 |
| E-cigarettes | Cannot be carried in or out | Cannot be brought in |
Cigars differ: Hong Kong allows “1 cigar or 25 grams of cigars”, while Macau caps a cigar at 3 grams.
On vapes, Hong Kong’s Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office says “no person may import an alternative smoking product by way of parcels, cargoes, and bringing in by incoming travellers.” A device you carry on a Hong Kong to Macau round trip breaks the rules at both ends.
Related guides:
- Hong Kong’s e-cigarette ban and its penalties
- The Hong Kong duty-free allowance, with its Red and Green Channel rules
- Every way into Macau and how long each takes
- Macau’s entry requirements, for passports and length of stay