Gambling Bulgarians spent almost half a billion euros on gambling in a year

According to the Ministry of Finance, in 2020 the people of Bulgaria spent more on gambling than on tourism and cultural activities. According to published information, gambling operators’ income from local residents exceeded 900 million leva (460 million euros). At the same time, as noted in the department, the cost of renting hotels turned out to be almost three times less – 330 million leva. Also, Bulgarians spend much less than on gambling on culture: buying books, going to the theater and cinema. In total, tax revenues from the gambling industry for 2020 amounted to 127.5 million leva, of which 81.5 million was collected by the State Gambling Commission. An additional BGN 46 million was raised after the National Revenue Agency took over the supervision of the industry. Earlier, the Minister of Finance of Bulgaria, Kirill Ananiev, said that tax revenues from gambling in 2020 decreased by 8%.