Last updated: 5 January 2025
When you are going on a trip to Macau (Macao), be sure to pack the appropriate travel plug adapter that fits the local sockets. But what do those electrical outlets look like? In Macau (Macao), type G plugs and sockets are the official standard. Because of its proximity to Hong Kong, Macau (Macao) has standardized on the same plug and outlet system as Hong Kong: type G.
The voltage Macau (Macao) is 230 volts and the frequency is 50 Hz.
An ungrounded plug with plastic earth pin.
Macau was never ruled by Great Britain —it was a Portuguese colony— but because of its proximity to the British colony of Hong Kong (some 30 kilometres / 20 miles as the crow flies) it adopted the same plug and socket system as Hong Kong (type G). In 1999, Portugal returned control of its colony to China. Macau became a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China and was allowed to govern itself for a period of 50 years (until 2049). This is why the city has kept many of its independent systems: e.g. unlike China, Macau drives on the left and it uses the British type G plug and socket system.
Type G wall sockets almost always include switches for extra safety. UK plugs are no doubt among the safest in the world, but also among the most hulking and cumbersome. That’s why people often make fun of them saying that a British plug is mostly bigger than the appliance it is connected to… Moreover, the bottom-heavy design of the plug makes it a perfect caltrop.
The type G standard requires use of a three-wire grounded and fused plug for all connections to the power mains. Two-wire appliances are not earthed, but they have a plastic grounding pin which only serves to open the shutters of the outlet. The lack of such an earth pin on a type C plug makes it impossible to connect it to a type G receptacle, although it can actually be forced into the socket by sticking a pointy object into the centre hole of the power outlet, which opens up the two other holes. Just to be perfectly clear, this is not a piece of advice; it’s simply an observation…
Click here for a global map showing the spread of the different plug types used around the world.
Click here for a detailed list of the countries of the world with their respective plug and outlet types, voltage and frequency.
