In 2023, gambling behaviors in Austria illuminated a record-breaking figure of approximately 2 billion euros spent, surpassing previous totals.
Based on a report titled "Gambling & Sports Betting in Austria 2024" conducted by Branchenradar.com, Austrians forked out roughly 22.9 billion euros on gambling in 2023 and lost around 2.11 billion euros. These statistics also account for earnings from the underground gambling market.
Turnover in the gambling sector surpasses pre-pandemic levels
This report, which is accessible on Branchenradar.com's website, has been widely disseminated in the media.
According to the Kronen Zeitung, the growth of gross gambling revenue follows a consistent upward trajectory. Although this growth was slowed down during the Corona years 2020 and 2021, it's worth noting that this trend has now exceeded the pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
Different gambling segments exhibit varying trends
The findings of the report suggest that the growth in gambling revenues wasn't uniform across all segments. The 12 land-based casinos witnessed the most significant growth of 16%, mainly due to the increase in tourism and a larger number of foreign visitors.
Online gambling games contributed the second-highest amount of 429 million euros to the total revenue, but growth was merely around 3% compared to 2022.
Unfortunately, lotteries, which are the most profitable gambling form in Austria, experienced a 2.6% drop in revenue. This marks the second consecutive year of decline for lotteries.
Stationary gaming machines and sports betting, categorized as skill games, also saw declines. However, sports betting may see a recovery in 2024 due to the upcoming European Championship.
The transparent underground gambling market in Austria
The report takes into account revenues from both the legal and illegal gambling markets, excluding poker. While estimating the scale of the illegal market in Germany can be a challenge, the data in Austria seems more accurate.
This is because many gambling operators in Austria, despite the owned monopoly with exclusively issued licenses to Casinos Austria AG, consider their activities as legal. They hold gaming licenses from the EU and rely on the EU's freedom of services provision.
In the opinion of the Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling (OVWG), Austria's gambling monopoly violates EU law. Therefore, foreign companies with EU licenses can legally operate in Austria and pay their taxes.
This transparency in estimating the black market sets Austria apart from other countries, despite the existence of a certain 'dark figure,' as not all gambling activities can be accounted for without interventions.
Future developments depend on political decisions
The Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling has requested the market to be opened up to more legal gambling providers, and addiction experts have suggested classifying sports betting as a gambling activity. These changes could influence the upcoming gambling statistics.
However, the application process for the 2027 and 2030 expiring gambling licenses, which at present are exclusively held by Casinos Austria AG and its subsidiaries, is currently underway.
At this stage, it's unclear whether there will be any immediate political decisions on gambling regulation reforms in Austria, and whether a more open market would automatically lead to increased turnover.
Germany has a significant online casino market, with many German players frequenting online casinos.
Interestingly, while Austria has a transparent underground gambling market, it's unclear if Germany has similar policies in place for estimating revenues from the black market in online casinos in Germany.
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