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The contribution of Colombia’s land-based casinos has played an important role in enhancing public health financing in 2025. According to official data, the amount contributed by physical casinos and bingo halls to Colombia’s health system for 2025 reached COP 378 billion, equivalent to US$ 105 million. This represents an increase of 9.3%, or an extra COP 33 billion, equivalent to US$ 9.12 million, compared to 2024.
This growth further confirms the position of land-based casinos as one of the most relevant funding sources for Colombia’s regulated gambling industry. This further enhances their economic and social relevance at a national level.
Casinos and Bingo Lead Industry Contributions
Gambling activities developed within physical casinos throughout 2025 again led the contributions made to Colombia’s health system. In total, 39% of the total revenue generated by Colombia’s gaming industry came from bingo halls and casinos, confirming their position as the most relevant contributors to Colombia’s regulated gambling industry.
Notwithstanding the growth experienced by online betting in recent years, physical casinos have continued to show their resilience and relevance in Colombia’s gambling industry, particularly with regards to their capacity for generating recurrent contributions to public funds for health services.
Regulatory Efforts Drive Revenue Growth
The growth experienced in contributions made by Colombia’s gambling industry to public health financing in 2025 has mainly been driven by intensified regulatory oversight and enforcement actions against illegal gambling activities.
“In 2024, localized games contributed COP 345.88 billion (US$ 95.64 million), almost COP 33 billion less than last year. This 9.3% increase in transfers to health shows that the sector continues to go through an excellent period under the current administration”, Hincapié stated.
According to the regulator, this is a result of a combination of stricter controls, better supervision, and a competitive legal market, which encourages operators to abide by the law.
Fighting Illegal Gambling as a Key Strategy
A major contributor to this growth, as observed, is the strategy implemented by Coljuegos to fight and address the issue of illegal gambling in the country. According to Hincapié, the measures were the most extensive in the history of Colombia in 2025.
“This increase in revenue would not have been possible without our tireless strategy against illegal gambling. In 2025 alone, we seized 3,047 illegal gambling devices in 95 enforcement actions carried out in 15 departments, something never seen before in the country”, he said.
The measures not only helped to address the issue of unfair competition for the legal operators in the country, but they also helped to channel the gambling business to the legal market.
Outlook for 2026 and Beyond
In the coming year, the performance of land-based gaming is anticipated to improve. According to the regulator, the integration of online sports betting and the modernization of physical venues will ensure that localized games are more attractive and competitive for Colombian gamers.
“Through online sports betting, we expect localized games to improve the quality of their offer and become more attractive and competitive for Colombian bettors”, Hincapié explained.
He also highlighted ongoing social initiatives: “We hope that during this year, with strategies such as ‘Machines for Peace,’ localized games will continue to increase their transfers to the health system for the benefit of the most vulnerable Colombians throughout the national territory.”
In this sense, it is clear that the figures provided in 2025 reinforce the idea of the social benefits that can be achieved through effective regulation and enforcement, and place the Colombian land-based casino industry firmly in the spotlight in relation to funding for public health.
Source: iGaming Brasil
