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The European Union recently released its first Structural Business Statistics (SBS) data concerning the arts, entertainment, and leisure industries. The report covers information on gambling and betting activities within the EU, including the operation of casinos, bingo halls, and video gaming terminals, as well as the provision of lottery and off-site betting services to the EU. The data is for the year 2021.
There are significant disparities among EU member states in the share of value added by the gaming and gambling activities sector, with the EU average estimated at around 38%. The Netherlands has the lowest proportion at 11%, while Malta has the highest at 98%. In Malta, gambling and betting activities account for over 16% of the total value added to the commercial economy, whereas in most EU countries (except Greece (1.0%), Hungary (1.9%), and Slovakia (3.6%)), this proportion is below 1%.
Despite the high turnover of the gambling industry, the number of enterprises within the sector is relatively low. Specifically, there are only 38,200 out of 894,000 enterprises in the entire industry. Employment in the gambling sector stands at 360,000 people, representing 17.5% of total industry employment.
Another significant statistical data point underscores the importance of the EU gambling industry, with the total net sales of the overall arts, entertainment, and leisure sector amounting to €210 billion, with over half (€110 billion) coming from the gaming industry.
The cultural and entertainment sector encompasses various activities aimed at fulfilling the public's interests in different cultural, entertainment, and leisure pursuits, including live performances, museum management, gambling, sports, and recreational activities. |
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