Malta's Economy Rakes In EUR1.56 Billion From Gambling in 2019

The iGaming industry of one of the world’s leading gaming hubs, Malta, has contributed to the country’s overall economy in 2019 with EUR 1.56 billion, which is a 9.6% annual increase. These figures were revealed in Malta Gaming Authority’s latest yearly report.

It has also been noted that MGA has cancelled 14 licenses in 2019, although the total number of operators increased by 3.9% to 294, which is still less than in 2017.

The Third Largest Industry

EUR 1.56 billion was produced in value and goods by the iGaming industry in 2019…

…which makes this industry the third-largest contributor in the private sector, behind retail, accommodation and food and private services.

Malta’s regulatory body said in the report that “Furthermore, gaming contributes to the generation of value added through linkages to other major sectors, including professional services, financial and ICT activities, hospitality and catering services, distributive trades and real estate.”

iGaming industry in this small Mediterranean nation has created 7,417 jobs, which is a 9.2% increase. 6,593 of these were in the online gaming industry.

Game Type Breakdown

Even though Malta Gaming Authority didn’t announce overall gaming revenue for the industry, it broke down online revenues according to the type of the game.

Games of Type 1, which are player-versus-house casino games) have collected the majority of turnover – 56%, which is slightly more than 55.4% in 2018. Slots were the most popular category, as they have brought 74.4% of Type 1 game revenue. Table games brought in 21.5%.

Type 2 games such as sports betting brought in 36.3% of the revenue, which is less than 2018’s 39%.

Heathcliff Faruggia, MGA chief executive, said:

“In 2019, a great focus was placed on ensuring that the Authority’s governance and structure reflected the increased focus on compliance and enforcement. More resources were given to compliance, with the scope of implementing the risk-based approach towards regulation more effectively.”

Out of 89 applications, 53 licenses were handed to operators, which is way below 93 issued in 2018. This was due to the changes in the licensing system from August 2018.

As Faruggia said, “these audits have so far proved an effective means of ensuring the effectiveness of the safeguards required by law as implemented by that specific licensee, and they continue to better inform the Authority on the measures it needs to take to achieve its objective of protecting vulnerable persons.”

Source:

“Gaming contributes €1.56bn to Maltese economy in 2019”, igamingbusiness.com, June 23rd 2020