Casino, lotto, sports betting… Gambling has broken records in 2023

The National Gaming Authority has just published the overall turnover of the sector. The French did not hesitate to play despite questions linked to purchasing power.

Inflation has not got the better of online players or traditional bettors. The year 2023 was even better than 2022, which had already made it possible to reach a peak. This record, in a period of inflation and purchasing power difficulties, is not paradoxical. For a large number of people, these moments of economic and social tension are an opportunity to try their luck in the hope of a gain, however small it may be.

According to the National Authority for the sector, the overall turnover of gambling reached 13.5 billion euros in 2023, up 3.5% year-on-year. All types of games are seeing growth in activity, with a particularly marked increase for casinos and online games such as poker. For the State, it is anything but a gamble since it earns an income on approximately 77% of the money wagered on the games.

Slot machines and sports betting

Large operators holding exclusive rights still represent more than half of the activity. Today, 27 million French people play the various activities of La Française des jeux. The casinos, which have been erasing the health crisis for two accounting years now, earned 2.7 billion euros last year, once the winnings were returned to the players. This is an increase of 8% compared to 2022 – 80% of this revenue coming from slots. As for online games, among the 44 sports open to betting in France, football recorded more than four billion euros in stakes, tennis two billion, basketball 900 million and rugby 250 million euros.

This growth in games makes the objective of reducing the number of excessive players even more relevant. The president of the regulator, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, has particular attention this year because 2024 is marked by the Olympic Games and Euro 2024 football in Germany.