Montenegro's gambling revenue sees a yearly increase of 58.5% in first quarter

Montenegro's gambling revenue, including casinos, betting houses, slot-machine clubs, and internet betting, saw a yearly surge of 58.5% to 6.5 million euros ($7 million) in the first quarter of 2024, according to the country’s Finance Ministry.

According to a ministry's statement issued last week, the increase in revenue was a result of regulatory changes that took effect at the beginning of this year, rather than the growth of betting volumes.

"The adopted measures resulted in abolishing certain types of betting that are considered risky and were not adequately regulated against money laundering," the ministry said.

As part of the new legal measures, Montenegro for the first time introduced mandatory payment of a variable fee for internet betting, and a fixed fee depending on the type of gaming organized via the internet.  

As a result of this, the revenue from internet betting rose to 2.2 million euros ($2.38 million) in January-March, from 380,000 euros in the same period of last year. The ministry further revealed that, in the full year 2023, internet betting revenue was recorded at nearly 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million), meaning the country has already surpassed that 12-month figure in just a quarter.