Latvia gambling revenue reaches €154.5m in first half

Gambling revenue in the regulated Latvian market climbed 14.7% year-on-year to €154.5m (£142.0m/$172.1m) in the first half of 2019, with national regulator the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection (IAUI) citing growth across all verticals.

Revenue during the six months to June 30, 2019 was up from €134.6m, while the IAUI also noted a rise in income from gambling – climbing 15.2% from €99.9m to €111.5m.

Gambling machines were by far the main source of income for licenced operators in Latvia, generating a collective €111.5m, which is up 11.5% on the same period last year.

Income from interactive gambling increased 38.8% year-on-year from €18.2m to €25.4m as more consumers turned to online gaming.

Online casino games were the most popular form of iGaming activity during the first half, with income up 40.1% to €18.1m. Online betting income was also up 35.3% to €7.1m, while card tournaments income jumped 65.9% to €193,482.

Elsewhere, table games income increased 2.6% to €8.1m, while bingo income was up 37.0% to €123,000 in the first half.

The IAUI also published an update on its effort to clamp down on illegal online gaming activities in the first half, during which it blocked 51 domain names and 87 IP addresses.

Since August 1, 2014, a total of 1,166 domain names and 2,478 IP addresses have been blocked.

The first and second quarters were similar in terms of performance by operators in Latvia, with revenue and income remaining relatively level throughout both periods.

Total market revenue stood at €77.3m in the three months to June 30, compared to €77.2m in the first quarter, while income was level at €73.3m.

Gambling machine income dipped slightly quarter-on-quarter from €56.1m to €55.4m, but online gambling income was up 4.9% from €12.3m to €13.0m.