Malta’s gambling sector contributed over €1.1b to the local economy in 2017, according to its gambling regulator’s annual report.

On Monday, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) released its 2017 annual report, which reported that the gaming sector’s direct contribution to the Maltese economy hit €1.1b last year, €100m higher than in 2016. The MGA collected €59.1m in gaming tax revenue, up €2.8m from 2016’s total, despite remote gaming tax falling 3% to €26.5m.

Gaming accounted for 11.3% of Malta’s overall economy, the fourth-highest producing sector. The MGA expects this figure to increase due to its licensees projecting their local expenditure to increase by 8% to 13% per annum over the next two years, while local employment is expected to rise 10%.

There were 287 gaming operators on the MGA’s books at the end of 2017, 28 more than in 2016. The total number of remote gambling licenses issued rose by 112 to 625, while full-time gaming jobs rose by 480 to 6,673, of which 5,327 worked in the remote gambling sector.