French gambling growth slows to 0.5% in H1 2026 as online GGR rises 11%

Regulator Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) has published figures showing that France's gambling market expanded by just 0.5% across the first six months of 2026. Over that period, which ended on 30 June, gross gaming revenue (GGR) came to €5.66bn. Growth was therefore weaker than in the same stretch of 2025, when the market expanded by 4.1%.

The online sector was alone in expanding, its GGR climbing 11% to €1.45bn. That amounted to 25.6% of the whole French market, 2.4 percentage points more than a year earlier, and active player accounts were up 24%. Sports betting led the way: its GGR rose 11.6% to €995m, while stakes grew 10.6% to €6.6bn, which the ANJ linked partly to the opening matches of the FIFA World Cup in June. Poker GGR was 13.4% higher at €290m, and although active player accounts there jumped 38.5% to 2.3 million, GGR per active account dropped 18%. Horse racing online saw GGR rise 2.8% to €164m and stakes climb 15.8% to €920m. Casino games remain unregulated online in France.

Player rewards rose 28% to €199m, equal to 13.8% of online GGR, up from 11.9% a year earlier. Sports betting accounted for €129m of the total, up 35%.

Weakness at FDJ United and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) held back the wider market. At FDJ United, GGR from exclusive-rights operations in France declined 2% to €3.43bn, largely because lottery GGR slipped 2.1% to €2.98bn and draw games GGR dropped 7.6% compared with a year earlier. Fewer and smaller EuroMillions jackpots were blamed for the draw games fall, and heatwaves reduced footfall at retail outlets in Q2, according to FDJ United. Once long EuroMillions jackpot cycles are excluded, lottery GGR was 1% above the prior year.

PMU's GGR from its exclusive operations slipped 5.8% to €782m, its third consecutive first-half decline, and stakes were 3.8% lower at €3.1bn. PMU's overall market share fell to 13.8% from 14.7% in the first half of 2025, having stood at 15.8% in the first half of 2024.

As the second half began, the online market counted a record 5.85 million active player accounts, 24% more than a year before. According to the ANJ, whether those players stay active once the FIFA World Cup is over will help determine growth for the full year. How they behave in H2, the regulator added, will show if the tournament has brought a lasting increase in the number of people betting in France.