The illegal gambling market exceeds legal gambling in France

In its press release published on April 24, AFJEL (French Online Gaming Association) reviews the latest report from the National Games Authority (ANJ) on the evolution of the gambling market in 2023.

In it’s latest report the ANJ reveals an alarming contrast. For the second year in a row there is a clear decline in the number of players in France. Unfortunately illegal online gambling has experienced a meteoric expansion with to date more than 4 million players compared to only 3.6 million for the legal market.

Continued decline in player numbers

The 2023 statistics show us that after a year of 2022 without growth, a downward curve is emerging. -2.2% for active player accounts and -5.3% for single players.

Decline in online betting

The statistics also show a clear decline in the market share of online betting, while growth is marked at the level of physical points of sale. Rising to 10.4% for physical points of sale compared to 6.4% for the online market.

Growth below the European average

Overall the growth of the French online gaming market remains below the European average with growth of 3.5% for France compared to 5.5% for the European market.

Explosion of the illegal gambling market

Despite reduced growth the illegal gambling market has literally exploded in a few years going from 500.000 players in 2016 to more than 4 million players in 2023. Far exceeding the legal market.

Nicolas Beraud president of AFJEL is worried about the situation.

“Despite the efforts made by the authorities to stem the phenomenon of illegal gambling we have reached an unprecedented situation for the first time since the opening of the online gaming market in 2010 there are more players on the illegal market than legal.”

According to Beraud the only viable solution to stem the illegal market would be to regulate online casino games and thus bring players back to a safe and responsible framework.