Kate O'Keeffe

HONG KONG--Casinos in Macau ended the year on a high note, as gambling revenue in the Chinese territory hit an all-time monthly high in December.

Gambling revenue rose 20% in December from a year earlier to 28.25 billion patacas ($3.54 billion), according to data from Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau released Wednesday. The figure beat the last record set in October 2012 when gambling revenue totaled MOP27.70 billion.

Full year revenue rose 14% from 2011 to MOP304.14 billion, which marked a slowdown from the prior year when gambling revenue rose 42% compared to 2010.

Macau, the only place in China where casino gambling is legal, is the world's largest gambling center. It earned more than five times the gambling revenue of the Las Vegas Strip in 2011.

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