Malta’s gaming sector was the fourth-largest contributor to the local economy in 2019, although those contributions will likely take a step back in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) released its 2019 Annual Report and Financial Statements, which put the gaming sector’s estimated contributions to the local economy at a gross value of €1.56b, up 9.6% from 2018’s figure, which was itself up nearly 12% from 2017. Gaming accounted for 13.3% of the overall economy last year.

Total gaming sector full-time employment was up 9.1% to 7,417,  despite land-based gaming jobs falling by 20 to 824. Total employment related to the gaming sector hit 11,747, equal to around 4.8% of the overall economy. The online sector was comprised of 64% of non-Maltese in 2019, down 3.3 points year-on-year.

There were 294 companies holding a total of 298 MGA-issued gaming licenses at the end of 2019, up from 283 companies holding 286 licenses in 2018. The MGA received 89 license applications in 2019, of which 44 were either rejected or withdrawn.