The gambling sector rebounded in 2021. According to an annual report published Monday by the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), online lottery and sports betting were the main drivers of this growth.

Up 7% compared to 2020, annual turnover reached 10.7 billion euros, a level even lower than the 11.1 billion collected in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

“From a longer-term perspective, the gambling market has been on the increase since 2017”, underlines the ANJ in the report.

The rebound recorded in 2021 can be explained in particular by the success of online sports betting, the stakes placed having increased by 47% over one year to reach nearly 7.9 billion euros.

A year full of events

Thanks to a year rich in major sporting events, in particular the Euro-2020 postponed by one year, the number of sports bettors has also increased significantly (+609,000 active accounts compared to 2020).

The online betting segment as a whole had an excellent year in 2021, with its turnover increasing by 24% in one year to now represent a fifth of the sector's income.

Lottery activities also picked up strongly (+16% to 5.037 billion euros).

On a more negative note, "the casino segment is the one suffering the deepest crisis, for the second consecutive year", indicates the ANJ.

At 1.08 billion euros as of October 31, 2021, its turnover has shrunk compared to 2019 (2.42 billion).

The 202 active casinos listed by the ANJ suffered from "more than six months of closure" imposed in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ANJ report is based on data provided by licensed gaming operators and the PMU, as well as the results published by Française des jeux.

Information relating to casinos comes from the Ministry of the Interior.

The results presented in the report relate to the reference period from November 1, 2020 to October 30, 2021.

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