Colombia regulator reports strong igaming growth for 2018-19

Colombian gambling monopoly Coljuegos’ tax revenue from online gambling licensees grew 106.3% for the year ending 31 October, 2019 to COP65.97bn (£14.7m/€17.6m/$19.6m), with total collections for gambling across all channels up 15.5% to COP617.21bn.

Retail bookmakers accounted for the bulk of tax revenue, bringing in COP377.25bn, 61% of the market, a 10.6% increase year-on-year. The SuperAstro Lottery followed, with a 14% share of the market, accounting for COP88.72bn of the total tax take, a 15.2% year-on-year increase.

Online operators’ COP65.97bn made up 10% of the market, though the channel's growth was the fastest of any legal form of gambling. Baloto and Revancha lottery games made up 10% and 3% respectively, bringing in COP59.71bn and COP20.45bn, while their combined growth was 3.3%.

Coljuegos also announced that, during the year, 4,332 illegal games had been withdrawn from the market, a 14.8% increase on 2017-18.

For the calendar year, the Colombian gambling market is projected to reach COP664.83bn, a 15.7% year-on-year increase. Money collected by Coljuegos is used to fund public healthcare in the country.

“Nothing is more satisfying than working for an entity in which everything we do helps to finance the health of more than 1.6 million Colombians a year,” Coljuegos president Juan B. Pérez Hidalgo said.