In casinos, bingos and lotteries in Argentina, millions of pesos are bet each
day. A business that until the 1990s was mainly dominated by the state and then
spread rapidly throughout the country, through private companies. Today, the
regulation of the sector is in charge of each province, which establishes the
laws that control the activity. In this report, it is explained how much money
genertes gaming in Argentina.
The gambling business in Argentina generates almost US$ 6.2 billion a year in
billing, including lottery agencies, casinos, slot machines, racetracks and
bingos, according to a special report by Cristian Pérez and Ricardo Heurtley,
two investigative journalists from the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA).
This amounts to twice
the national health budget for 2017, or the budget of almost the entire
Ministry of Social Development. Outside the legal circuit, clandestine gambling
continues to operate, in which a single person can raise up to US$ 130k in one
morning, money that is totally out of State reach.
The national and provincial lotteries handle close to US$ 1.6 billion annually.
The latest report presented by the Association of Argentine State Lotteries
(ALEA), corresponding to 2015, states that:
US$ 3.25 billion were bet on casinos,
slot machines, racetracks and bingos.
• Provincial lotteries
received US$ 950 million.
• The companies that operate the gaming venues collected US$ 2.2billion (which were
distributed in earnings, operating expenses and salaries of employees).
In lotteries, quinielas and games like
Quini6 or Loto, Argentines bet over US$ 2.85 billion in 2015.
• US$ 1.1 billion in
profits for lotteries.
• US$ 630 million commission from the 24,970 official agencies.
• US$ 540 million more were collected by the State.
• US$ 1.75 billion was paid in prizes.
In casinos and bingo halls of Argentina work 150,000 people
This way, lotteries
(National and Provincial) handle close to US$ 1.53 billion annually. This
amounts to almost two budgets of the Ministry of Science and Technology for the
whole 2017.
Even in provinces like Buenos Aires it becomes the second budget in importance
behind the one assigned to the Ministry of Economy. Of this total, US$ 670 million
are allocated, according to ALEA, directly to different ministries and social
programs, although according to the different provincial legislations that
regulate the activity they should be destined almost in total to social
development.
Source: GMB / Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA)
