Cambodia’s casino market underwent a dramatic expansion in 2018, thanks to the rapid development of the Sihanoukville region’s gaming sector.

New official numbers from Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance show there were 150 active casino licenses at the end of 2018, up from just 98 at the end of 2017. Cambodia’s Preah Sihanouk province alone had 88 active casino licenses at the end of last year.

The government has yet to issue specifics on how much revenue it reaped from the gaming industry in 2018. But Ros Phirun, deputy director of the General Department of Financial Industry, told the Phnom Penh Post that the ministry had previously forecast gaming tax and fee revenue of $56m. That would be more than twice the sum the government collected in 2014.

Phirun said the ministry expected to push its gaming revenue even further once the government finishes drafting its new gambling legislation. However, the government has been promising to deliver this legislation for years now and the finished document never seems to get any closer to reality.