ISTAT: Italian gaming firms fall 5.4% in 2024 as turnover halves

The number of active Italian businesses classified as lotteries, betting and casinos fell 5.4% to 6,929 in 2024 from 7,327 in 2023, a reduction of 398 units, according to ISTAT's report "Conti economici delle imprese e dei gruppi di impresa". The report reconstructs the economic performance of the Ateco division for 2024.

Employment also declined. Total workers fell 4.9% to 37,324 from 39,247, a loss of 1,923 units. Employees fell 1.6% to 30,456 from 30,937, a reduction of 481. The gap between total workers and employees, which reflects the self-employed and entrepreneurial component, fell from 8,310 people in 2023 to 6,868 in 2024, a decline of 1,442 units or 17.4%.

Turnover fell 48.5% to €11.54bn in 2024 from €22.43bn in 2023. Value added rose 3.8% to €4.11bn from €3.96bn. ISTAT notes that turnover and value added measure different quantities: value added is the difference between the value of production and the cost of intermediate goods and services. The report says the divergence could be linked to factors including the different composition of revenue booked by companies in the sector, such as margins, commissions and other components, and the entry, exit or reclassification of large operators.

In 2024, 12 large companies with at least 250 employees accounted for more than half of the division's turnover. Their turnover was €6.17bn, or 53.5% of the total, and their value added was €2.78bn, or 67.6% of the division's total. They employed 10,309 people and made investments of €132.5m, more than half of the total. The number of companies with 50 to 249 employees rose from 11 in 2023 to 42 in 2024.

The labour cost rose 4.8% to €1.25bn from €1.19bn despite the fall in employee numbers. Investments rose 2.8% to €246.2m from €239.6m. Nominal labour productivity, measured as value added per worker, rose about 9.1% to about €110,000 in 2024 from about €100,800 in 2023.

Micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 workers numbered 6,540, or 94.4% of the total. They employed 16,919 people, of whom 10,415 were employees, and generated turnover of about €1.5bn and value added of €642.4m. Companies with 10 to 19 workers numbered 219, with 2,825 workers and turnover of €649.5m. Companies with 20 to 49 workers numbered 116, employing 3,424 people with revenue of €2.21bn. Medium-sized companies with 50 to 249 workers numbered 42, employing 3,847 people and producing turnover of about €1.02bn.

ISTAT says the Ateco division covers companies whose main economic activity is lotteries, betting and casinos, meaning the games-of-chance sector, assigned by the criterion of the prevailing activity. The data exclude the wider network of commercial activities that distribute gaming products, and companies with mixed or hybrid activities where gaming is secondary to the main activity, such as bars, tobacconists and other businesses that also offer gaming services or host machines but are classified in different Ateco categories. Companies and workers in pure entertainment machine activities classified elsewhere are also excluded. The figures of 6,929 companies and 37,324 workers therefore represent the perimeter of companies classified in a specific games-of-chance division, not all economic activities and workers in the public gaming chain.