In 2024, Belgium’s regulated gambling market experienced its first year-over-year decline since the outbreak of Corona Virus. According to the national regulator’s data on total Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), there was a decrease of 4.86% from last year, with total revenues falling from €1.69 billion in 2023 to €1.61 billion in 2024.
The sharp decline results mainly from weakened performance in the land-based segment, as well as a moderate decrease in the online segment—both segments continue to dominate the overall gambling market. For instance, online GGR decreased from €946.7 million (56.7%) to €919.1 (57.1%) million, illustrating a 2.7% decrease year-over-year, while land-based revenue experienced an even greater decline at 7.59% instead of being predominantly driven by online sources.
All gambling verticals also experienced varying degrees of fluctuation this year when compared to last year. The casino vertical outperformed most others, showing an increase of 7.32% and reaching total casino revenue of €638.45 million—approximately 75% of which came from online gaming channels. In contrast, total revenue generated by arcade licencing decreased from €437.2 million (8.94%) to €384.75 (11.95%), primarily due to a staggering drop in online revenues by 23.8%, even though offline revenues increased slightly.
Low-stakes gaming revenues showed another drop of €222 million or 21.71%, whereas café bingo revenues dropped by 24.7%. Sports betting GGR has also continued to decline year-over-year since 2020, falling from €389.94 million (10.4%) to €364.3 million (6.59%). For example, offline sports betting revenues fell by 13.58% compared to last year; in contrast, online sports betting revenues only fell by 2.11%.
Retail betting continues to struggle within the current climate, with the number of retail shops falling by over 18% since 2008—going from 535 shops licensed by the Belgian Gaming Commission to 408 shops licensed during this year—contributing an overall decline of almost 18% in land-based sports betting revenues.
While gambling is still accounting for a majority of total revenues, this trend has increased throughout the pandemic. Nevertheless, regulators have expressed concern about the possibility of there being a transition to illicit or illegal gambling platforms and believe that more research into illegal gambling should be performed.
