French illegal gambling worth up to €1.5 billion per year

Monday, December 4, 2023 8:43 PM
Photo:  Shutterstock
  • Richard Mulligan, iGaming Business

France’s illegal gambling market could be worth up to €1.5bn ($1.62bn), which would account for more than 10% of the total wagered across the country each year.

Research published by the French gambling regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) identified 510 illegal websites generating traffic. Of these, 21 alone were estimated to generate 60% of illegal gambling traffic.

The study, carried out by PwC, estimates that the gross gaming revenue (GGR) generated by illegal gambling is between €748m and €1.5bn. This makes up between 5% and 11% of the total gambling market, which was worth a record €12.9bn in 2022.

Concerningly, 79% of the gross gaming revenue (GGR) generated by the illegal online gambling market comes from high-risk gamblers.