Casino News

European gambling revenue '3% of GDP'

2006-11-10 15:00:00

A new study investigating gaming services within European Union (EU) countries has found that online gambling is boosting the success of gaming and betting throughout Europe.

The research, carried out by the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law at the request of the European Commission, found that gambling now accounts for three per cent of the EU's gross domestic product, and that the success of offshore gambling will mean further increases in revenue in the near future.

With betting services bringing in $8.7 billion in 2003 alone, the overall figure for 2006 is likely to be far higher, the report estimates.

The study, set up to investigate how online and offline gambling regulations affected certain EU markets, concluded that there were a number of inconsistencies in countries' respective gambling taxation laws that could have a negative affect on the industry.

Earlier this month it was revealed that EU commissioners have officially asked governments to explain their policies regarding online gambling.



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