Cambodia’s government earned one-third more tax revenue from casino gambling in 2015 than it raised one year earlier.
On Monday, Cambodia’s Finance Ministry announced that it had collected $34.7m in casino taxes in 2015, up 33% from 2014’s total. The gain is a marked departure from 2014’s 12% gain and the 12.5% average annual growth recorded over the past three years.
The ministry’s deputy director-general, Ross Phearun, attributed 2015’s bonanza to improved nationwide tax collection. Pheaurn claimed that the ministry had issued only seven new casino licenses in 2015, only one of which had actually commenced operations last year.
NagaCorp’s flagship NagaWorld property in Phnom Penh accounted for 23% of the government’s casino tax haul. NagaWorld is not only the country’s largest casino, it’s also a far more diversified venue than the small gaming-only casinos that dot the country’s borders with Thailand and Vietnam.