State-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) said Monday it generated record gross gaming revenues (GGR) of P285.27 billion in 2023 on the back of the sector’s strong recovery from the pandemic.
PAGCOR chairman and chief executive officer Alejandro Tengco said the 2023 GGR was 11.2 percent higher than the previous record of P256.49 billion registered in 2019.
“Our 2023 results exceeded even our most optimistic projections, and it proves beyond doubt that the Philippine gaming industry has fully recovered and is now poised for sustained growth in the medium- to long-term,” Tengco said in an interview with reporters in Makati City.
Tengco said that as the outlook for gaming this year remained positive, the GGR for 2024 is expected to reach P336.38 billion, driven by both land-based and e-gaming casinos.
“We are projecting that our licensed casinos from the Entertainment City, Metro Manila, Clark, Cebu and the Fiesta Casinos in Rizal and Poro Point will contribute as much as P256.63 billion to our 2024 GGR,” he said.
Tengco said e-casinos, e-bingo, sports betting and specialty games are projected to contribute P61.75 billion in 2024 and should be the fastest-growing sector in the next few years.
“We are really excited with the phenomenal growth of e-games in the Philippines, and this is where PAGCOR will be betting,” he said.
Integrated resorts are still the biggest contributors to the gaming industry’s revenue in 2023, accounting for P207.48 billion, while the fast-growing e-gaming casinos contributed P58.16 billion.
PAGCOR-operated casinos under the Casino Filipino brand contributed P19.62 billion to total revenues.
Tengco also reported that PAGCOR generated P5.2 billion in revenues from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) last year, up 75 percent from P2.98 billion in 2022.
He said PAGCOR was still able to increase its revenue collection from POGOs despite the significant reduction in the number of POGO operators amid the recent government crackdown on several establishments.
Tengco said that from a peak of more than 200 POGO operators, the number fell to 48 POGOs leasing 628,000 square meters of office space last year.
PAGCOR remitted P35 billion to national government treasury in 2023, said Tengco.