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 eurosan economic volume equal to 7.2% of the national GDPwhich has been systematically increasing 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 Black Book of Gamblingpublished 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 the 2 billion euros.
Behind the immutable facade of traditional lotteries, the center of gravity of gambling has now shifted. The physical channel in 2024 it stops at 65.3 billion euros raiseda substantially stagnant figure and still far from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. What is driving the growth is instead the remote gaming: 92.1 billion eurosincreasing by more 10 billion in just one year (+12.2%), mainly concentrated on online casinos, games of skill, sports betting and betting exchange.
There Italian lottery thus it 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 Southern regions. In the medium term, however, online 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 underlines that it is precisely the people with lower monthly incomes and educational qualifications to become problem gamblers or addicts more frequently.
In 2022 they have played at least once or so 20 million adultsAlmost 800 thousand they had a medium-severe risk profile; among minors and young people the phenomenon is equally widespread, with more 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 the game, the negative consequences are concentrated above all among those with fewer resources, with a faster progression of problems and less 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 yearwith particularly marked peaks: Castel San Giorgio goes further 18 thousand euroswhile reality as Isernia, Patti, Saint Cyprian of Aversa or Galaton exceed the 5–6 thousand euros.
Italy first in Europe for gambling revenues
In this framework, theItaly it ranks at the top in 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 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 like Sweden, Holland or Denmark, where digital has already stably surpassed the traditional channel.
The European comparison therefore reinforces a reading that has already emerged at an internal level: Italy combines very high volumesa widespread diffusion across the territory and a transition towards online. A mix that, crossed with the social inequalities and territorial observed, makes the Italian gambling system not an isolated exception, but one of the most complex and relevant cases in the European context.
