Belgian gambling industry sees revenue decline in trend reversal
Delayed data shows that gambling revenue declined in 2024 following three years of significant growth.
Belgium.- The Belgian Gambling Commission has revealed that the country’s regulated gambling industry shrank in 2024 for the first time since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. The data, which was published late due to staffing shortages, shows an about-turn after online gross gambling revenue rose by 60 per cent between 2020 and 2023.
The regulator’s data shows that overall gross gaming revenue (GGR) from licensed operators in 2024 dropped by 4.86 per cent year-on-year to €1.61bn. That contraction was largely due to weaker performance in land-based gaming venues, however, online gambling also dipped.
Online gambling represented 57.1 per cent of all revenue and was down by 2.7 per cent year-on-year at €919.1m. Land-based gambling revenue came in at €690.41m, down 7.59 per cent.
Across the sectors, casino revenue rose by 7.32 per cent to €638.4m, with online casinos generating about three-quarters of this figure. Meanwhile, the revenue from slots fell 11.95 per cent to €384.75m, driven by a steep 23.8 per cent drop in online play, though offline slots grew 4.24 per cent.
As for sports betting, revenue was down 6.59 per cent to €364.3m. Offline betting fell by 13.58 per cent, which is not unexpected when the number of retail betting licences fell from 535 to 408. However, online betting revenue also fell, down by 2.11 per cent. A decline in horse racing bets and niche markets also weighed on results.
Low-stakes gaming declined by 21.71 per cent to €222m, with café bingo down 24.7 per cent.
Online gambling continued to account for the majority of revenue, a pattern reinforced during the pandemic. However, it’s notable that several online segments saw declines in revenue.
The Belgian gambling regulator noted that these may be the result of a series of regulatory changes introduced in 2023. Belgium began prohibiting operators from operating gaming via multiple licence types on a single website. That hit the demand for online slots, which had previously been offered on sports betting sites.
Meanwhile, the minimum gambling age in Belgium was raised from 18 to 21, and a ban on gambling ads in Belgium was introduced from July 1, 2023.
