Gambling revenue in Lithuania increased 12.6% year-on-year to €116.0m (£99.3m/$126.7m) in H1 with a strong online performance mitigating a decline in land-based revenue.
Figures from the Lithuania Gaming Control Authority show H1 revenue was clear of the €108.5m reported in the same period last year.
Starting with the online market, revenue for the channel climbed 12.5% year-on-year to €72.2m. Player spending increased by 8.7% to €1.05bn, winning $973.1m in the process.
Slots reign supreme in Lithuania online gambling market
Category A online slots – games with unlimited winnings – were undoubtedly the star of the show in H1. These slots generated €53.5m in revenue, more than any other segment across both the online and land-based market in Lithuania. Player spending on these machines also hit a market-high of €627.7m, up 6.2%.
For Category B online slots, with maximum stakes of LTL1 (€0.3) and wins limited to 200 times customer bets, revenue was flat at €1.8m in H1. In addition, online table games revenue climbed 11.7% year-on-year to €6.7m.
Sports betting revenue edged up 1.6% to €19.3m during H1, with player wagers up 2.4% to €289.0m.
Land-based market shrinks in H1
Turning now to the land-based market, total revenue in this sector amounted to €34.7m, a 4.4% decline. The drop came as player stakes declined 5.6% to €217.8m.
Category B slot machines were the most popular product in the retail markets with revenue of €14.4m, although this was down 6.5%. Player wagers on these machines declined 6.5% to €92.1m.
In terms of Category A slots, revenue was 5.3% higher year-on-year at €7.9m, with staking edging up 4.7% to €31.8m.
Meanwhile, revenue from table games dropped 9.1% to €8.0m and sports betting revenue fell 6.4% to €4.4m.
Positive period for lotteries in Lithuania
Separate to the main figures, the Lithuania Gaming Control Authority also published data on lotteries. During the first half, gross gaming revenue from lotteries amounted to €32.7m, a rise of 6.2%.
Ticket sales were 4.0% higher year-on-year at €70.9m, with total ticket sales up 1.1% to 50.4 million. Player winnings increased 2.3% to €38.1m.
From this gambling activity across all channels, the market generated tax revenue of €37.6m. Of this total €24.1m came from gambling operators and €13.5m lottery providers.
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