The Swiss gaming industry’s 2022 results were recently released. They show that, for the second consecutive year, the country’s land-based casinos were significantly impacted by the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
As they were forced to remain closed until April 18, 2021, their revenues decreased. On the other hand, online gaming continued to grow .
Taxes that remained stable overall between 2020 and 2021
Overall, taxes levied by the Swiss government on players in the gaming industry remained stable between 2020 and 2021. Thus, for the year 2021, 249 million Swiss francs (compared to 248 million in 2020) were allocated to the old-age and survivors’ insurance compensation fund.
Similarly, 26 million (compared to 27.3 million in 2020) were paid to the cantons hosting the gaming establishments.
However, these figures are significantly lower than those of 2019, before the international Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. At that time, 312 million went to the compensation fund and 51.8 million went to the cantons.
If we focus solely on land-based casinos, we notice that they paid out a total of only 175 million Swiss francs in 2021. This represents a decrease of 11.5% compared to 2020. In contrast, taxes levied on online casinos increased by 27.7% to reach 100 million Swiss francs.
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Actions of the Swiss regulatory authority
During 2021, only the Basel and Montreux casinos were granted concession extensions to offer online gaming. This means that there were 11 casinos in total in this category at the end of last year.
In terms of monitoring, it can be noted that controls were carried out correctly in all land-based casinos. In terms of online casino games in Switzerland , the monitoring campaign also proceeded normally.
The Swiss regulatory authority has issued 160 criminal orders regarding illegal gambling and conducted five major investigations. Two of these investigations led to the dismantling of no fewer than five illegal gambling dens.
Two new land-based casinos expected soon in Switzerland
The recently published results also highlighted gross gaming revenue. For land-based casinos, total revenue reached 406 million Swiss francs in 2021, compared to 452 million in 2020. For online gaming, revenue reached 234 million in 2021, compared to 187 million in 2020. This represents a year-on-year increase of approximately 25%.
It is known that the concessions and concession extensions of the 21 casinos in Switzerland will expire on December 31, 2024. During the month of April, the Federal Council decided to award 23 new concessions, 21 of which are in regions where there is already a gambling house.
We should therefore expect to see two new land-based casinos opening in the country soon.
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