While the lights go out on yet another edition of the Italian Lottery – a collective, televised, reassuring ritual – gambling in Italy continues to grow away from the spotlight. In 2024 the overall collection, between physical and online channels, reached 157.4 billion euros, an economic volume equal to 7.2% of the national GDP, increasing systematically since the start of monitoring in 2006. In our country, 111.7 billion euros were gambled in 2021, 136 in 2022, over 150 billion in 2023 and more than 157 billion in 2024.
The data is collected in the Black Book of Gambling, published annually by the CGIL, a precious report that allows us to remedy important gaps in data collection: the failure to publish consolidated official statistics, the chronic delays in the dissemination of numbers and the decreasing quality of the information released by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM). All these elements produce an information paradox: for the same indicator – the volume played at a national level in 2024 – official responses provided in the same period report different “provisional” values, with deviations that exceed 2 billion euros.
Behind the immutable facade of traditional lotteries, the center of gravity of gambling has now shifted. In 2024, the physical channel will stop at 65.3 billion euros in collections, a substantially stagnant figure and still far from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Instead, remote gaming is driving the growth: 92.1 billion euros, an increase of over 10 billion in just one year (+12.2%), concentrated above all on online casinos, games of skill, sports betting and betting exchange.
The Italian Lottery thus remains the public face of a system which, in terms of numbers and real dynamics, has already changed its modalities but remains constant at a geographical level.
The South is the protagonist of online gambling in Italy
The CGIL records regional and provincial data only for online: today the engine of remote gambling is concentrated above all in the southern regions. In the medium term, however, telematic gaming is destined to establish itself as the prevalent modality throughout the country, as stated in the report. The national average of online collection per capita is 2,162 euros per year. Isernia is the first province with a double value: 4,262 euros per year.
It should be noted that the areas with a lower per capita income are those with a higher gaming average. A 2022 study by the IPSAD (Italian Population Survey on Alcohol and other Drugs) of the CNR-IFC highlights that it is precisely people with lower monthly incomes and educational qualifications who more frequently become problem or addicted gamblers.
In 2022, around 20 million adults played at least once, almost 800 thousand had a medium-severe risk profile; among minors and young people the phenomenon is equally widespread, with over 1.3 million students involved and tens of thousands of problematic cases.
The socio-economic level emerges as a key factor: while wealthier groups participate more often in gambling, the negative consequences are concentrated above all among those with fewer resources, with a more rapid progression of problems and a lower ability to absorb losses. In this context, the greater concentration of gambling supply in economically disadvantaged areas contributes to strengthening the link between gamblingsocial inequalities and, in some contexts, infiltration by organized crime.
In several municipalities in Campania, Sicily and Calabria the expenditure consistently exceeds 3,500–4,000 euros per year, with particularly marked peaks: Castel San Giorgio reaches over 18 thousand euros, while areas such as Isernia, Patti, San Cipriano d’Aversa or Galatone exceed 5–6 thousand euros.
Italy first in Europe for gambling revenues
In this context, Italy is at the top of the European gambling scene in terms of overall revenue volumes. With 21.5 billion euros in 2024, it is the first market among those considered, ahead of the United Kingdom, Germany and France. What distinguishes the Italian case is not only the absolute size, but also the structure of the market: the weight of physical gambling remains particularly high (16 billion) while online – although growing strongly – stops at 5.5 billion, making it less dominant than in countries such as Sweden, Holland or Denmark, where digital has already steadily overtaken the traditional channel.
The European comparison therefore reinforces an interpretation that has already emerged at an internal level: Italy combines very high volumes, widespread diffusion across the territory and a transition towards online. A mix which, when combined with the social and territorial inequalities observed, makes the Italian gambling system not an isolated exception, but one of the most complex and relevant cases in the European context.
