The recovery of the land-based gaming sector in Belgium is “underway” according to the Belgian Gaming Commission as it released industry statistics revealing the offline and online sectors are “coming closer to each other.”
The 2022 gross gaming revenue in the country amounted to over €1.45bn, made up of 54.87 per cent for online gaming and 45.13 per cent for the land-based and retail sector.
The land-based sector’s revenue grew by 65.74 per cent compared to 2021, while the online industry grew by only 2.59 per cent.
Overall, the Belgian Gaming Commission said, gross gaming revenue is up 23.89 per cent from 2021.
“It is evident that players have rediscovered their way to physical casinos in 2022,” the regulator said in its report.
“The offline GGR has more than doubled compared to 2021, reaching a level comparable to that before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the online GGR has increased by almost 16 per cent, consistent with the growth of previous years.”
It said GGR for casinos, slot machine halls and cafes has returned to pre-Covid levels, but the growth of betting offices and newsagents has been slower.
Nearly one third of the offline GGR in Belgium was generated through bingo machines and low-stakes gambling in cafes, with slot machine halls and betting followed.
“Betting had consistently held the top position since 2019,” the report noted.
The Belgian regulator said every casino in Belgium apart from in Middelkerke saw an increase in GGR, collectively surpassing the 2019 level.
In the igaming sector, online casino led the way in online GGR with 47.31 per cent of the share, followed by slot machine halls and betting.
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