Gaming industry net turnover more than half of all EU creative, entertainment sector
Eurostat recently published structural business statistics (SBS) data for the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector for the first time. The document includes information about the gaming and betting activities in the European Union (EU), including the operation of casinos, bingo halls, and video gaming terminals, as well as the provision of gaming services such as lotteries and off-track betting for the year 2021.
The share of the value added of gaming and betting activities for the sector varied strongly among EU countries, with the EU average estimated around 38%. The lowest value was registered in the Netherlands (11 %) and the highest in Malta (98 %). In Malta, gaming and betting activities generated over 16 % of the value added of the whole business economy, while in most EU countries (except Greece (1.0 %), Hungary (1.9 %) and Slovakia (3.6 %)) this share was below 1 %.
Despite the high turnover, a relatively low number of enterprises operated in the gaming subsector, specifically 38,200 out of a total of 894,000 for the whole sector. Gaming employed 360,000 persons, accounting for 17.5% of the sector’s employment.
Another significant statistic, which attests to the importance of the gaming industry in the EU is that out of a total €210 billion net turnover for the whole arts, entertainment, and recreation sector, more than half, specifically, €110 billion, was generated by the gaming industry.
The arts, entertainment and recreation sector included a wide range of activities to meet varied cultural, entertainment and recreational interests of the general public, including live performances, operation of museum sites, gaming, sports and recreation activities.
