French online gambling revenue up 18 percent in FY 2017

France’s online gambling regulator ARJEL has released figures showing that in FY 2017 French online gambling revenue rose 18 percent year-on-year to Euro 962 million.

The increase was attributed to rising bets and entry fees, which collectively grew 9 percent year-on-year to Euro 9.2 billion.

Sports betting was the most popular with French punters, delivering Euro 2.51 billion in wagers over the year from 2 million gamblers – up 400,000 players compared with the preceding year. Online betting on horse racing rose for the first time in four years, recording an active punter base of 523,000 (2016 – 484,000).

Online poker deposits rose marginally at 1 percent year-on-year to Euro 3.6 billion on cash games, with tournaments delivering a 9 percent y-o-y improvement.

Government tax and fees coffers benefitted by 13 percent yea-on-year at Euro 439 million.