The Belgian Gaming Commission has published a report looking into the gaming sector's performance from 1 January to 31 December 2022.
The report indicates that in 2022, the GGR from games of chance in Belgium exceeded €1.45bn ($1.58bn), with online gaming contributing 54.9% and offline gaming 45.1%.
The offline gaming sector witnessed a 65.7% increase compared to 2021, attributed to bouncing back from the pandemic-induced closures. Conversely, the online sector experienced growth of 2.6%, culminating in overall sector growth of 23.9% compared to 2021.
Offline gaming, encompassing casinos, arcades and cafes, rebounded to pre-pandemic levels while betting agencies and bookstores demonstrated increased activity but did not fully recover.
Casinos, arcades and cafes contributed to offline GGR, with bingo machines and reduced-stakes games in cafes comprising a portion of 33%. Betting, which had previously held the top position, accounted for 23.9% of offline GGR.
In the online space, casino websites commanded the highest share of total GGR (47.3%), followed closely by automatic gaming room websites (26.4%) and online betting (26.3%), maintaining a distribution similar to that of 2021.
The report highlights a resurgence in physical casino visits in 2022, resulting in a doubling of offline GGR compared to 2021. Notably, the GGR from physical casinos reached a new level, with nine casinos collectively amassing over €500m in GGR.
The offline casino landscape witnessed increased GGR across all physical casinos, surpassing levels observed in 2019. The Brussels casino held a dominant market share, contributing over 40% of revenues.
In the online arena, GGR from the nine casinos grew by 16%, with the Spa casino website leading in revenue generation. However, the Middelkerke casino witnessed a decline in GGR due to the cancellation of an additional licence.
In September 2023, the Belgian Gaming Commission conducted a survey revealing that 13% of participants gamble daily and only 36% of participants could identify the difference between legal and illegal websites.
