The decline in revenue caused by the pandemic has more than covered the industry gamblingas his data show Gambling Supervision and Control Committee (GCC) nine months of this year. In particular, in relation to 2019, the total gross revenue (GGR – obtained by deducting attributed profits from gambling turnover) exceeded the levels of the time period from January to September 2019 by more than 6%, rising to 1.7 billion euros. According to EEEP analysis, the market has balanced compared to the pre-pandemic period.

From online casino

However, there is unevenness in recovery when looking at individual gaming categories. Casino revenues in the period from January to September are even significantly lower compared to the same period in 2019, having formed at the level of 135.2 million euros against 191.7 million euros. By contrast, in online gaming, GGR increased by 75% to €539.2 million in the nine months of this year, a change that demonstrates the shift to online gaming, also due to new habits created by the pandemic.

The total turnover of the sector (TGR) also increased significantly by 77%, reaching 20.2 billion euros in nine months. This significant change is due to the fact that this amount includes amounts won and played by players. EEEP data shows that online gaming is the largest contributor to TGR (€14.7bn), followed by OPAP agencies and slot machines (VLT) with €4.2bn and land-based casinos with just over €1bn.

In terms of state rights, they decreased by about 33%, to 348 million, due to a change in the odds for OPAP games that occurred in 2020 after the contractual obligation of the state. “This decline cannot be offset despite significant increases in rights as a result of online gaming,” EEEP says. It is significant that the rights from online games in the nine months of this year amounted to 188.7 million euros, an increase of 74.4% compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

Also due to changes (p. 4949/2022) in the tax base and tax rates (more misses taxed at lower rates), player income tax more than doubled to 169 million euros from 77 million euros.

It is expected that the data on the income of the gambling sector will change after the start of the European lottery (Eurojackpot), as the Ministry of Finance recently issued the corresponding OPAP license. Greece becomes the 19th European country to participate in the European Lotto, which costs €2 per column. The goal of the game is for players to find 5 winning numbers out of 50 numbers, as well as two more out of 12 numbers. The price for the entire duration of the license was €1 million, with the State contributing 30% of OPAP’s gross profit to the proceeds.