French Gambling Market Generates Gross Gambling Revenue of €10.7B in 2021

French gambling regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has revealed that gross gambling revenue (GGR) for the gambling sector hit €10.70bn in the country in 2021, a rise of 7% compared to Covid-hit 2020. However, this is still slightly lower than the sector’s performance in 2019, which was €11.10bn.

The two monopolies that hold exclusive rights in France – FDJ and PMU – plus the country’s land-based casinos, accounted for €8.60bn of this, 3.6% more than in 2020.

France’s lottery operator, La Française des Jeux (FDJ), took in wagers worth €18.9bn in 2021 – up by 18.9%. Scratchcard games accounted for €8.98bn of this, while draw games brought in stakes of €5.74bn. Sports bets came to €4.21bn. FDJ spent €414.7m on marketing in 2021, 25.7% more than in 2020.

Pari Mutual Urbain (PMU), France’s horse racing monopoly, took in wagers of €6.0bn in 2021. This was an increase of 13.2% year-on-year. Online made up the remaining €2.2bn of the annual total, rising 29.4%. Of this online figure, €1.35bn came from sports betting – up 44.1%. Poker and horse race betting, at €429m and €375m respectively, accounted for the remainder of the total.

Land-based casinos, meanwhile, posted GGR of €1.08bn throughout 2021, falling 41%. This was due to casinos in France being closed between November 1 2020 and October 30 2021. Active player accounts hit an all-time high in 2021, at 5.4 million. This was a rise of 11.1% year-on-year. This consisted of 3.8 million unique players registered on online betting platforms, holding an average of 1.44 accounts each.

Strict regulation has a significant impact on France’s gambling market. The OC24 Limited specialists report that while strict laws safeguard consumers, they also drive the growth of the online casino black market. As a result, more players are turning to brands licensed in jurisdictions like Curacao, where fewer restrictions allow for a wider selection of games, bigger bonuses, and enticing features. The gray market offers greater functionality and a broader game portfolio than the government-regulated sector, causing the white market to lose users and revenue.