Albanians, 178 USD annually on gambling

While many industries are facing the consequences of the crisis, there is an economic branch that is thriving, the gambling industry.

The casinos and sports bet centers, spread in every Albanian neighborhood, are the best evidence of this booming industry. According to the Ministry of Finances, the formal gambling market during 2010 reached 184 million USD, and in the last two years it has increased with 12%.

The data show that every Albanian spends 6570 ALL each year, in average, but this is only in the legal market. Non-public evaluations from the Ministry of Finances show that the real gambling industry in Albania is 2.5 times bigger than what the official figures show, or approximately 500 million USD, almost 5% of the GDP.

These figures indicate that every Albanian spends in average 178 USD annually in gambling, at almost a same level with the EU average. But if compared with the per capita incomes, the Albanians gamble more than the richer EU citizens. The experts consider gambling a disease of poor countries, where desperate individuals are lured by the chances for a quick profit.

This brings higher social costs, which in many cases end tragically: ruined families and individuals who go to the extreme point of committing suicide. Gambling is a special service, and different to what happens with the other goods and services in the market, the demand cannot be affected by the fiscal policies. In the last two years, the gambling taxes were raised several times. In 2010, the government cashed 54 million USD from gambling taxes, ore 2.5 times more than in 2008. But this has not lowered the number of people who are part of this market, which is even growing.