Macao's garment factories employed around 10 percent of the special administrative region's labor force in the first quarter, according to official statistics issued on Monday in Macao.

The figures from the Statistics and Census Service showed that the number of employees in the garment sector reached 24,673, surpassing 21,368, the number of those working in restaurants and hotels.

The trend, local analysts witnessed, is an indication that the garment industry has been gaining the significance in Macao, a city famed for its gaming and tourism businesses.

Macao's work force totalled 240,000 in the first quarter, when its population reached 469,800, the figures showed.