Casino landscapes compared: Malta’s industry vs UK scene

Malta has four major land-based gaming establishments, with three of them situated in the St Julians area, close to the busy nightlife central area of the country. Those are the Casino Malta, Dragonara Casino and the Portomaso Casino. The Oracle Casino sits in St Paul’s Bay.

As of 2023, there were 140 casinos in operation in the UK, spread across places like Birmingham, London and Manchester. Naturally, there is a vast difference between the countries in terms of size and population, which accounts for that. The UK has a population of more than 68 million in an area of more than 240,000 km², whereas Malta has around 550,000 in just 320 km².

According to 2023 research, around 4,200 Maltese people are regular online casino players. That number is expected to rise to 12,000 users by 2029. In comparison, the UK has one of the biggest online casino industries in the world. The UK Gambling Commission reported that in 2023 approximately 26% of people in the UK took part in online gambling, a number which was up from 19% in 2018, making it approximately 17.5 million current online casino players.

Malta has been a hub for gambling since the turn of the century. Thanks to new gambling frameworks that were established in 2004, the country put a huge spotlight on itself. That was largely because of a favourable tax structure that offers benefits to businesses that set up shop there.

The Malta Gaming Authority is one of the most highly respected regulatory bodies in the world for gambling, offering protections for both operators and players within its laws. The MGA’s laws were some of the first to address online gambling and rules of operation. Now Malta, which is the European Union’s smallest member state, has more than 300 gaming companies registered.

The UK’s regulatory body the UK Gambling Commission oversees everything in the territory. It was established in 2005 and came into force in terms of regulatory powers in 2007 when it took control of all forms of gambling licensing and regulations, ranging from fairness to advertising standards. The UKGC covers everything from casinos to arcades and of course, online gambling.

The UK is strictly limited to attracting local players within the jurisdiction, both for land-based and online casinos. It’s very much a resident-based approach to keep a tight rein on things. But Malta differs quite a bit, as the country has situated itself as a hub for the global gambling industry. So operators situated in the country, will target a much broader audience from international countries.

The Malta Gaming Authority announced in its 2023 interim report that Malta’s gaming industry had contributed 9.5% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) which is a marker for how much value the sector contributes. That totalled €810.7 million, which represented a 12.2% total contribution to Malta’s economy.

The market size of gambling in the UK was significantly larger, coming in at £16.2bn for 2023. But both had something in common, and that was a rise in turnover from the previous year’s numbers. That indicates that the industry remains strong, with plenty of growth still to target.

This is the area in which the two markets differentiate substantially. Malta has been well-known for its lower tax rates for online gambling, for example, which are around 5%. That’s comparatively low compared to not only the UK but the gambling industry in many other countries.

In the UK, online operators are faced with a massive 21% taxation rate on gross gaming revenue. But there is a trade-off of course, because the UK’s gambling industry is so much bigger, and for many operators, it’s still worthwhile operating there.

Across Europe, the gambling industry continues to thrive, and the returns from both Malta and the UK show that. There are some significant differences in how the countries operate and run the gambling sector, but at the end of the day, the industry contributes heavily to local economies, while providing substantial regulations plus plenty of choice and value for players.