Colombian gaming regulator Coljuegos has reported that the gambling sector brought in a total of COP$19.48tn (£3.68bn/€4.29bn/$5.03bn) in the first half of 2021.
This represented a 99.3% year-on-year increase compared to the first half of 2020, when sales amounted to COP$9.77tn.
The regulator also revealed that during H1, online gaming grew by 148% in the first half of 2021 compared to the full-year 2020 online gaming results of COP$8.30tn (£1.5bn/€1.8bn/$2.1bn).
Speaking at the GAT Expo event, Jhon Jairo Altamiranda, commercial vice president of Coljeugos, said he was hopeful this growth would continue into the second half of the year.
“We hope that in the second half of 2021, this manner continues with the same sales rhythm, positioning itself in the market as one of the great strengths of our sector.”
President of Coljuegos César Augusto Valencia Galiano, who was appointed in November 2020, spoke of how the industry has been impacted by the effects of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
“We have lived through challenging times where we have encountered uncontrollable aspects that have had an impact on this industry,“ said Galiano.
“In the midst of that situation, we work hand in hand with guilds and operators for economic reactivation.”
In addition, Galiano noted that the past year had seen a decline in sports betting, due to events being cancelled. This was offset by random number generator (RNG) games rising in popularity and increasing market share.
“As an effect of the cancellation of sporting events at a national and international level, a considerable increase was generated in the participation of RNG games,” said Galiano.
“For this reason, players loyal to online games had no choice but to migrate to the RNG games, which increased their market share.”
Last week, Coljuegos carried out raids on seven gambling establishments that were operating illegally.
